LA County has more than 15K deaths. 5K since Christmas

Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles County passed the milestone of 15,000 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, more than a third of which occurred after Christmas.

On Saturday, public health confirmed 269 new deaths and 10,537 new coronavirus cases.

There are 6,881 COVID-19 people currently hospitalized, 24% in the ICU. It is the first time since December 29 that the number of daily hospitalizations has dropped to less than 7,000. However, while that number is declining, healthcare workers and ICU capacity remains overwhelming, with 0% available ICU capacity in the Southern California region, under a stay-at-home order. I’m staying at.

Of the 269 new deaths reported on Saturday, 82 were over 80 years old. 85 was between 65 and 79. 52 was between 50 and 64. 15 was between 30 and 49. One was between the ages of 18 and 29. Nine deaths were reported each from the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena.

Eight new cases of pediatric multiple organ inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) have also been reported by public health. This brought the total number of MIS-C cases in LA County to 62, one of whom died. All 62 were hospitalized and 45% were treated in the ICU. Of the children with MIS-C, 31% were under 5 years of age. 37% was between 5 and 11. And 32% was between 12 and 20. Latin American / Latin American children account for almost 74% of reported cases.

MIS-C is an inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19. Symptoms include persistent fever and inflammation of parts of the body such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, and gastrointestinal organs. If your child appears to have MIS-C symptoms, contact your primary care or emergency health care provider. Seek emergency medical care for serious or life-threatening conditions. If you don’t have a primary care provider, dial 211 to help LA County connect to your primary care provider.

Meanwhile, public health continues to encourage patience among residents eager to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, severe shortages of supplies, overloading online booking systems, and many trying to schedule bookings. I was frustrated.

“We are also tracking lower hospitalization rates, positive test rates, rates of COVID-19-related emergency department visits, and rates of COVID-positive respiratory specimens on sentinel laboratory monitoring sites. You can also see some indicators of, “says Dr. Paul. Simon, Chief Scientific Officer of the County Public Health Service.

“But despite these promising trends, I would like to emphasize that the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths is still too high,” he said. “So, for good reason, we are all vigilant, wear masks, physically away from home, avoid meetings, wash hands frequently, and maintain discipline. Must be. “

Simon urged people to remain patient in their efforts to administer the vaccine, again pointing out that the lack of doses on hand and uncertainty about future allocations continued. He said the county’s large vaccination site, which opened this week, each capable of managing 4,000 shots per day, will operate with much less capacity next week, perhaps in the range of 2,000 to 2,500.

The county will receive another 143,900 vaccinations next week. However, most of next week’s vaccines will be used to give a second dose to those who have already received the first injection, as they need to be given twice at intervals of 3-4 weeks. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer previously estimated that of the doses coming next week, only 37,900 would be available to receive the first dose.

Simon said Friday that the latest figures indicate that 441,140 doses of vaccine have already been given in the county, but that number is much higher due to the delay in counting the total number of vaccinations. He said it was likely. As of this week, the county had received a total dose of about 853,000 times.

Simon said people should not look at these numbers and should not assume that there are 400,000 unused doses in the county, with vaccination reports and daily dose delays. I paid attention again. He also pointed out the many need for drugs used as a second dose for those who have already received the first shot.

If the county’s weekly quota does not improve dramatically above the current average of about 150,000, “immunization efforts are likely to expand sufficiently by 2022,” Simon said.

“We look forward to increased vaccine production and shipments to California,” he said. “There is a new federal government that has promised to do this, and we expect some other vaccine manufacturers to get federal approval for emergency use of the vaccine in the coming months. This will increase supply to California and eventually Los Angeles County. “

If the county could increase its quota to 500,000 a week, “it could reach 75% of the county’s adult population, or 6 million adults, by midsummer,” he said.

In the meantime, he encouraged patience and said, “I understand how important it is to get the vaccine out as soon as possible.”

He said the state is upgrading its vaccine booking website, which links the county’s system, so it should run more smoothly as early as next week. Residents of the county trying to make a reservation must use the county website vacuumnatelacounty.com.

The county also has a call-in booking system, available from 8 am to 8:30 pm at 833-540-0473. However, the volume of calls is already so high that this line should only be used by people who cannot use the website, Simon said.

— City News Service