Another 91 COVID-19 deaths reported in LA County as hospital condition dire – NBC Los Angeles

Los Angeles County reported 12,488 new cases of COVID-19 and 91 additional deaths on Sunday, but the number of coronavirus cases in county hospitals also decreased slightly.

A total of 7,544 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized for the virus, 21% in the intensive care unit, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Service. This is a decrease from 7,627 patients reported on Saturday.

Currently, the total number of pandemics in the county is 818,639, with 10,773 deaths.

The load on the case doubled last month.

The situation at hospitals in the county is dire, with ambulances waiting up to eight hours to unload patients, resulting in a shortage of ambulances on the streets and long 911 response times.

“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the many families who mourn their loved ones who died from COVID-19. As we enter this New Year, you remain in our minds,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, on Saturday. It was.

“The strategy to stop the surge is pretty simple. When people move away from others, the virus can’t spread as it does now. The more you stay at home, the more you avoid direct activity with others. Together. The more you live in, the less you can spread the virus.

“Health official orders create a framework for protecting each other, but it is our action to prevent people from being hospitalized and dying. When we deliberately follow public health and safety directives, we Avoids getting and sending COVID-19. This is our way. Stop the surge. “

State officials announced Friday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has dispatched experts to support the oxygen supply systems of six older hospitals in the county during the disaster.

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“The current surge in patients … it’s a kind of hidden disaster,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the County Emergency Medical Services Agency earlier this week. “It’s not a fire. It’s not an earthquake. It’s not the right train wreck in public. They can see what’s happening and avoid the area. It’s all home and hospital doors. It’s happening behind the scenes, so no one really sees what’s going on. “

According to Chidester, the hospital was overwhelmed and ambulances had to wait 7 to 8 hours in the ambulance, forcing patients to be treated with the ambulance. But more importantly, delays have stopped the use of ambulances and made them unable to answer additional emergency medical calls.

“There is a shortage of ambulances and the response to 911 calls is getting longer and longer,” says Chidester.

She said in Antelope Valley, the county uses ambulances and ambulance companies that are “traditionally not 911-enabled ambulances” just to keep up with demand.

The Army Corps of Engineers team will evaluate the oxygen system at the following county hospitals:
-Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles;
-Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina;
-Mission Community Hospital, Panorama City;
-Beverly Community Hospital, Montebello;
-Lakewood Community Health Center, Lakewood;
-PIH Health Hospital, Downey.

“Working on a problematic oxygen supply system upgrade in these older hospitals can improve our ability to provide life-sustaining health care to those in need,” said the Governor-General of Emergency Services. Said Mark Girarducci.

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Dr. Christina Garry, director of health services at the county, said pipes in some hospitals could not maintain sufficient pressure and could even freeze.

Military experts will oversee any upgrades that may be needed at the affected hospital.

The county’s latest figures show a total of 773 available and staffed hospital beds on Friday, including 57 adult ICU beds. These numbers change rapidly throughout the day.

Increasing hospitalizations led to more deaths, and on Thursday the county reported a record 290 deaths, some of which were due to unprocessed reports dating back to the Christmas holiday weekend. Feller said 86% of people who died of COVID-19 in the county were in underlying health, down from more than 90% of the early pandemics.

The decline “in fact indicates that not only will more people die than ever before, but they will die without underlying health.”

Feller again pointed out the younger population who increased the number of cases. She said that among people between the ages of 30 and 49, an average of 4,419 people were positive for the virus per day, an increase of 850% from early November, when an average of 463 people were positive per day. .. Between the ages of 18 and 29, the daily average has more than doubled.

But those young patients are not dead with it. In the standard pattern, younger residents are infected more often and then the virus is transmitted to older people who are at high risk of hospitalization or death. Feller said that among people over the age of 80, an average of 40 people die from the virus each day. The number has increased from 4 in early November.

“Our hospital continues to be overwhelmed as the number of new cases continues to decline,” Feller said. “As more and more people flood the hospital, the tragic fact is that hundreds of people die from COVID each week- 19. Unfortunately, these trends continue until January. Nothing. If not, it definitely goes beyond that. “

Some LA County hospitals are treating so many patients that their oxygen supply system is overrun. Six of those hospitals will start getting help on Saturday. Michelle Valles will report on Saturday, January 2, 2021.

Chidester said that if residents could see what was happening in the hospital, they would see a crisis in the eyes of health care workers.

“It’s like a deer in the headlights. They are overwhelming. They are pale. Due to the large number of patients, we are trying to do our best with limited resources at this time. .. When entering a hospital or ICU, it’s still very quiet, but believe me, it’s a disaster. What’s happening in our hospital is just sad …. definitely, I’ll tell you right now, we’re in the midst of a disaster. “

As of Sunday, about 4.8 million people were tested and 16% tested positive.