Long Beach reported seven new COVID-19 related deaths, one of the highest increases since the winter surge at the beginning of the year.

The increase comes as health officials are warning people to rethink their holiday gathering plans as the highly-contagious omicron variant continues to spread.

Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported a staggering 16,510 new COVID-19 cases for one of the highest daily totals of the pandemic and up nearly 75% from Tuesday.

Long Beach reported 449 new cases on Tuesday—the highest number since August, when the delta variant ripped through the region. The city reports new data a day behind the county.

“As cases continue to rise, it is important that we all use the tools available to help us curb the spread,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “As we get ready to welcome the new year, this includes re-thinking party plans, limiting time indoors with non-household members, and isolating from others if feeling sick.”

Stating that large, crowded events are “just too risky this holiday,” the county Department of Public Health urged residents “to scale down New Year’s plans by limiting gatherings to a very small number of people where everyone is fully vaccinated and boosted if eligible. “

The county reported an additional 25 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday, raising the overall death toll to 27,601. With the seven additional deaths reported Tuesday, 1,075 Long Beach residents have now died of COVID-19 since March 2020.

The countywide seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus also continued a disturbing climb, reaching 17.6%. That’s up from about 3% a week ago and less than 1% a month ago.

In Long Beach, meanwhile, the daily rate of people testing positive jumped to 6.3%, which is more than double from a week ago. The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Long Beach area also jumped to 129, up from about 60 last week.

According to state figures, the number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals rose to 1,251 as of Wednesday, up from 1,069 a day earlier.

The increase in virus-related hospitalizations is being closely watched by public health officials concerned that hospitals, which expanded capacity to handle COVID patient numbers that topped 8,000 last January, are less equipped to cope with such an intense surge this winter due to various factors, most notably a drop in staffing.

L.A. County has seen a more than 30% jump in hospitalizations over the past week.

Health officials said omicron is believed to be responsible for 59% of all U.S. COVID infections, out-pacing the previous delta variant, which now accounts for 41%. 

City News Service contributed to this report.