State officials on Thursday reported ICU bed availability is now down to 0% in the 11-county Southern California region as the latest surge of COVID-19 infections continues to rage on, while health officials urge residents to avoid gatherings and continue social distancing and mask-wearing.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County officials report they have a few more ICU beds open and staff available to attend them – 92 beds on Thursday, down from 102 beds on Wednesday. However, those few beds are not enough to raise the overall availability percentage across the entire Southern California region.
“Based on the science of transmission of COVID-19, the devastation we are experiencing now is due to people who were unknowingly infected with the virus being in close or direct contact with another person or group long enough to infect them,” said LA County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis. “It may have occurred at work or when they traveled or visited with people outside their homes who they don’t live with over the holidays, either here in the county or in another county or another state or another country.
“The science of COVID-19 transmission also indicates that the transmission occurs more easily in crowded spaces with many people nearby, close-contact settings especially where people have conversations very near each other and in confined spaces or closed spaces with poor ventilation,” he said. “And that the risk of COVID-19 spreading is higher in places where these three conditions overlap.”
Some 208 more people were hospitalized in Los Angeles County on Thursday than on Wednesday, with a total of 4,864 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. That sets a new record for hospitalizations in the county, beating the previous record of 4,656 which was set on Wednesday.
Of those hospitalized, 20% are in the ICU, which translates to about 973 patients in the ICU.
The 11-county Southern California region’s ICU bed availability now stands at 0%, which is down from .5% on Wednesday. On Tuesday, ICU bed availability was 1.7%; on Monday, it was 2.7%; on Saturday, it was 5.3% (no report provided on ICU availability on Sunday).
The Southern California region covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The region has been under a state-imposed regional stay-at-home lockdown order since Dec. 7 because of the low number of ICU beds available.
Los Angeles County reported 14,418 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. That brings the county to a cumulative total of 580,325 cases since the pandemic began in March.
The county announced 102 more people dead from the coronavirus on Thursday, pushing the county’s cumulative death toll to 8,664 people.
West Hollywood saw 15 new cases on Thursday for a cumulative total of 1,187 cases. There were no new COVID deaths in the city. WeHo’s cumulative death toll remains at nine deaths.
Below are the daily numbers for areas near West Hollywood:
- Beverly Hills – 21 new cases for a total of 1,298 cases.
- Culver City – 22 new cases for a total of 943 cases.
- Hollywood – 69 new cases for a total of 2,670 cases.
- Melrose neighborhood – 100 new cases for a total of 3,902 cases.
- Miracle Mile – 19 new cases for a total of 432 cases.
- Park La Brea – 3 new cases for a total of 267 cases.
- Santa Monica – 72 new cases for a total of 2,091 cases.
For information about the many resources available to West Hollywood residents who have been impacted by COVID-19, CLICK HERE.
This is truly devastating and projected to get much worse over the next few weeks. Please stay home over the holidays. Cancel the holiday trip and wait a few months when more people are vaccinated. Please!
Thank you GreenEyedBoy for being the voice of reason in such a dire circumstance! 👏 The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed our ICU capacity but, a safe and highly effective mRNA Vaccine has NOW arrived ❗ In the mean time non-pharmaceutical methods like social distancing, masks and, lockdowns can be highly effective as seen in the case of New Zealand. These measures are necessary even with a vaccine to end the pandemic.
Amen, greeneyedboy and I would add please keep your nose covered, preferably with a kn95 or surgical mask if your budget allows; high quality, dense, fitted cloth mask otherwise Once again, bandannas and gaiters actually make things worse by not protecting you and making the virus particles smaller so they hang in the air longer, per CDC and many others. And vented respirators protect you but put others at risk from you. All easily researched online. As of 12.17, Los Angeles Times reporting 1 in 80 in L.A.County infectious right now- this is a dangerous time. Have a safe holiday… Read more »