Los Angeles County health officials warned that transmissions of COVID-19 at unadvised holiday gatherings and travel is starting to appear as 221 new deaths and 16,982 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Saturday.
On Friday, county officials reported 318 COVID-19 deaths, surpassing 300 for the first time. In total, the county has reported 906,171 confirmed COVID-19 cases and of 12,084 deaths. In the last four days, the county also experienced over 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths.
“The speed with which we are reaching grim milestones of COVID-19 deaths and cases is a devastating reflection of the immense spread that is occurring across the county,” Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of Public Health, said. “This accelerated spread reflects the many unsafe actions individuals took over holidays. The travel and inter-mingling with non-household members made it much easier for transmission of the virus. As a result, there is so much more risk when engaging in any activity that has you exposed to people outside your household.”
Long Beach on Thursday reported over 500 new cases and seven new deaths. No numbers were reported Friday because it was a furlough day for city staff.
This sustained surge in cases continues to drive thousands of residents every day to seek care at already overwhelmed hospitals across the county, officials said.
There are 7,966 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 22% of these people are in the ICU. According to the state, the Southern California Region continues to have 0% ICU capacity remaining—a threshold that state officials are using to dictate reopenings.
Alongside COVID, public health officials reported three additional cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, in children. This brings the total cases of MIS-C in the county to 54 children including one child death.
The overwhelming cases of COVID-19 is putting a strain on medical staff throughout the county and state, as nurses are asked to dictate which patients receive potentially lifesaving care and which are denied it if the current wave of COVID-19 cases pushes local health care providers to that point.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s volunteer program to recruit more nurses to join those battered on the frontlines in hospital rooms did not provide the manpower it had hoped to bring. An army of 95,000 volunteers initially raised their hands to join the program in the spring, and just 14 are now working in the field.
“Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out, and the goal is laudable,” Stephanie Roberson, government relations director for the California Nurses Association, told the Associated Press.