Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to edge upward in the city’s five medical facilities, with 337 people now in need of care, city health officials reported Friday.
Today’s number grew from 312 reported on Thursday, with average daily hospitalizations increasing 408% from Nov. 10 to Dec. 10, officials said.
The city reported one new death due to COVID-19, for a total of 311 since March. This comes after multiple days of reporting numerous COVID-19 deaths, including a single-day record of seven deaths Tuesday.
The number of new cases reported by the city Friday—547—is also down slightly compared to the rest of the week, which ranged from around 900 to 1,100 per day. The city noted Friday’s new cases include a backlog of cases due to data processing delays.
Long Beach cases from Nov. 16 to Dec. 16 account for 42% of the city’s 24,622 COVID-19 cases reported since the pandemic began in March. The average number of daily cases is 543, a 1,292% increase since the beginning of the latest surge following the Thanksgiving holiday.
Los Angeles County, meanwhile, on Friday reported another 96 deaths due to coronavirus, and 16,504 new cases. There are now 5,100 people hospitalized throughout the county with the virus.
Since Monday, L.A. County has reported more than 71,000 new COVID-19 cases—an acceleration never before seen.
During a press conference signaling the beginning of the city’s vaccination efforts, Mayor Robert Garcia announced the area’s hospital’s ICU capacity is down to 10%. Thursday, the state announced Southern California ICU capacity is now 0%.
Hospitals are expected to administer the first round of vaccination to thousands of frontline healthcare workers over the new week, with second doses expected in several weeks.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated there were no new deaths reported. The city reported one new death Friday.