Los Angeles will be the first US county to hit 1 million COVID-19 cases as the region has identified the first case of a UK COVID variant

Los Angeles (KABC)-Saturday Los Angeles became the first county in the country to record 1 million COVID-19 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, making the county the first reported new, more contagious coronavirus strain. I confirmed the first case. In England.

Authorities also reported 14,669 new cases of COVID-19 and 253 additional deaths, bringing the county to a total of 1,003,923 cases and 13,741 deaths.

Of the 238 deaths, 81 are over 80, 92 are 65-79, and 49 are 50-64, excluding those in Long Beach and Pasadena (which have their own health departments). People, 12 were between 30 and 49, and 4 were between 18 and 29.

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The number of coronavirus cases in county hospitals has remained unchanged since Friday, at 7,597, at 22% in the ICU. Hospitalizations have recently been on the decline, after peaking just over 8,000.

The county has a total of approximately 2,500 licensed ICU beds.

However, health officials have warned that the number of hospitals could increase significantly again for people infected during Christmas and New Year holidays. New cases continue to increase daily in the county, which means that more people are constantly hospitalized.

The figure of one million people is about one-tenth of the total population, but modeling released by the county this week estimates that one-third of the population is actually infected and probably doesn’t know that. It remains.

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The Los Angeles County Public Health Department has recently identified the first case of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 in an individual spent in Los Angeles County. The individual is a man who traveled to Oregon, where he is now isolated.

This variant was confirmed by Quest Laboratories, Washington.

This is the first confirmed variant case in Los Angeles County, but public health officials here believe the strain has already spread to the community and are continuing to test samples.

See: Los Angeles County confirms first case of UK COVID variant

“The presence of a British variant in Los Angeles County is problematic because more than 7,500 people currently in the hospital are already in serious tension,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health. Said. It has surged and experienced a huge number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. This is five times what I experienced in the summer. This more contagious variant makes it easier for the infection to spread to the workplace, stores, and our homes.

“We are in the midst of a public health emergency, so do everything you can to protect yourself and your loved ones. If you need to work outside your home, your workplace is everything. Make sure you comply with the mandatory safety directives of the person who can keep them out of the way, provide protective equipment and face coverings as needed, and implement full infection control measures. For this, if you need to stay away from all non-family members and be around others, always keep a distance and wear a face cover. Wash your hands every hour and often Wipe the surface that touches multiple times a day. You need to use the tools at hand to prevent mutual infection. “

The new strain does not make people sick, but it is much easier to spread. That is, it can spread rapidly throughout the population.

Meanwhile, the county is working to step up its vaccination efforts and plans to open five large vaccine sites on Tuesday. These will be added to the large site opened by the city at Dodger Stadium on Friday, as well as the 75 smaller sites already operated by the county.

The current main issue is the availability of vaccines.

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As of Thursday, the county has administered more than 279,000 vaccines to health care workers and staff, as well as residents of skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, said Dr. Paul Simon, Chief Scientific Officer of the County Public Health Service. He said he did. .. He said he had given 44% of the vaccine that the county received for use as the first dose in a double-dose regimen and 30% of the vaccine that was designated for use as the second dose.

“The remaining doses were distributed to our partner vaccination providers or allocated for use over the next few weeks,” Simon said.

Simon said he sympathizes with people who are dissatisfied with the slow pace of vaccination, especially those over the age of 65 who are already vaccinated in other jurisdictions deeper in the distribution process. .. Los Angeles County does not plan to vaccinate these people until at least February, as it is expected that it will take to complete vaccination of health care workers.

“We also want to extend vaccination to people over the age of 65 as soon as possible. The main barrier at this time is a lack of adequate vaccine supply. We will start vaccination of the elderly in the coming weeks. We are very much looking forward to the arrival of additional vaccines so that we can. Elderly people and others are naturally anxious and often dissatisfied with delayed vaccinations. Please be aware that we are committed to expanding access to vaccines as quickly as possible. “

City News Service contributed to this report.