Los Angeles County again set new COVID-19 records on Friday as the county hit all-time highs for the number of new cases and people hospitalized in a single day, while also getting dangerously close to the 15% mark of available ICU beds which will trigger new restrictions from the state.
According to figures released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Heath, the county had 8,860 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 60 new deaths on Friday.
There are 2,668 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized, 24% of these people are in the ICU. Each day this week, the number of people hospitalized has set a new record.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced during his daily briefing on Friday that 20.6% of ICU beds in the county are available. Once the county hits 15% of ICU beds available, it will trigger a new regional Safer-at-Home order from the state.
Los Angeles County imposed many restrictions on Nov. 30, but once the state-set threshold of less than 15% of ICU beds available is hit, it will trigger even further restrictions from the state for the Southern California region.
Those new state-imposed restrictions will include closure of all personal care services like barbershops, hair salons and nail salons. It will also force essential businesses to limit occupancy to 20%, down from the current 35% which the county imposed on Monday.
Officials are imposing these restrictions in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, fearing that if hospitals are overwhelmed with sick COVID-19 patients, they may not be able to treat everyone who is sick.
To date, LA County has had a cumulative total of 430,583 positive cases of COVID-19 and a cumulative total of total of 7,842 deaths.
The county’s transmission rate currently stands at 1.14, which means that every person infected with the coronavirus passes it on to 1.14 other people.
As long as the transmission rates remains above one, the number of new daily infections will continue to grow. Once the transmission rate falls below one, (meaning each person infected passes it on to less than one other person), the number of new daily infections will begin to decline.
West Hollywood saw nine new cases on Friday for a cumulative total of 979 cases. There were no new deaths from COVID in the city. The city’s cumulative death toll remains at nine deaths.
Below are the daily numbers for areas near West Hollywood:
- Beverly Hills – 19 new cases for a total of 1,054 cases.
- Culver City – 12 new cases for a total of 686 cases.
- Hollywood – 49 new cases for a total of 2,065 cases.
- Melrose neighborhood – 55 new cases for a total of 3,037 cases.
- Miracle Mile – 2 new cases for a total of 321 cases.
- Park La Brea – 4 new cases for a total of 205 cases.
- Santa Monica – 24 new cases for a total of 1,597 cases.
For information about the many resources available to West Hollywood residents who have been impacted by COVID-19, CLICK HERE.
