According to data published by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 258 people died of COVID-19 in the county on Jan 6th, or one person every 5.58 minutes.
A total of 11,328 deaths and 852,165 cases have been reported in the county since the start of the pandemic, but cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have all increased significantly since November.
The department reports 8,023 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 20% of these people are in the ICU. On November 1, the three-day average number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was 791. On January 4, the three-day average increased to 7,873. Hospitals are accepting more patients than they can discharge, and this is causing a huge strain on the county’s emergency medical system, the department reports.
The county also reports the test positivity rate increased to 21.8% on Jan 6, up from 3.8% on November 1. “This is very significant because it means one in five people who are tested are carrying the COVID-19 virus and can expose others to this disease,” the county said in a press release.
COVID-19 vaccination efforts are ongoing. As of Monday, a total of 185,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were received and 100,556 doses have been administered to frontline healthcare workers at acute care hospitals. Hospitals have also begun to administer the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and as of today, 1,602 healthcare workers are fully vaccinated.
The County received 166,300 Moderna doses as of Monday, of which 31,915 have been administered to staff and residents at skilled nursing facilities to EMTs and paramedics, and to healthcare workers in clinics. This includes healthcare workers at urgent care and primary care clinics, at intermediate and home healthcare facilities and services, as well as healthcare field workers who face a high risk of exposure. Now, after the holidays, the pace of vaccinations is picking up as we expand the number of people qualified to administer vaccines, and open additional locations to administer vaccines to priority group healthcare workers who don’t work at acute care hospitals.
