Long Beach on Monday saw another grim round of COVID-19 numbers with nearly 1,000 new cases recorded in the span of three days, continued spikes in hospitalizations and a surge in nursing home outbreaks.
The city on Monday recorded 987 new infections since its last report on Thursday, but that number does not include backlogged cases that are expected to be reported later this week. Long Beach typically does not report numbers over the weekend and did not report them on Friday either because staff was furloughed.
A total of 274 people were hospitalized for COVID in the city’s five nearby hospitals, up from 199 on Thursday.
With the wave of cases, health officials have painted a dire picture of the health care system. The overall number of available ICU beds in the Southern California region has dropped to just 2.7% as some facilities are considering canceling elective surgeries and implementing surge plans. LA County on Monday said local ICUs could soon be full.
In one positive number, Long Beach reported no new deaths on Monday, with total fatalities standing at 295. However, nursing homes, which were an epicenter of deaths early in the pandemic, are once again seeing mass infections, with nearly two dozen now reporting outbreaks for staff and residents.
Meanwhile, the city’s seven-day average case rate has doubled in the span of a week to 81 cases per 100,000 residents, up from 42 on Dec. 7.
The city also reported that two parks, recreation and marine employees who interact with the public have tested positive for COVID-19. That includes an employee assigned to the community recreation services bureau who was last at work on Dec. 4 and an employee assigned to the marine bureau who was last a work on on Dec. 7.
Both are now recovering at home, city officials said.