Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Los Angeles County fell on Sunday for the first time in more than two months. The number of people hospitalized is still incredibly high, but there are a few less people in the hospital on Sunday than on Saturday.
It’s far too early to tell if this means the coronavirus has peaked, especially given that these numbers are coming in during a holiday weekend when there are frequently reporting lags or delays.
County health officials expect to see another surge in the coming weeks thanks to people gathering together over the Christmas and New Year holidays, despite repeated warnings to avoid such gatherings with people outside one’s household.
As of Sunday, there are 7,544 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. That’s 83 fewer people than were hospitalized on Saturday when there were a record-breaking 7,627 people hospitalized.
Of those hospitalized, 21% are in the ICU. That translates to about 1,520 people in the ICU.
The 11-county Southern California region’s ICU bed availability remains at 0%. It first dropped to 0% on Dec. 17 and has remained there ever since. Because of that low ICU bed availability, the state on Dec. 29 extended its regional stay-at-home lockdown order for an indefinite period of time. Only when the ICU bed availability rises to near 15% will the region’s lockdown order be lifted.
On Sunday, Los Angeles County reported 12,488 new COVID-19 cases. The county now has a cumulative total of 818,639 cases since the pandemic began in March.
County health officials announced 91 more people dead from the coronavirus on Saturday. The county’s cumulative death toll is now 10,773 people.
To date, more than 4.8 million people have been tested for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Of those tested, an overall average of 16% are testing positive.
The health department has not provided a figure for how many people in LA County have been vaccinated so far. WEHOville will begin reporting that number as soon as the health department begins providing it.
West Hollywood recorded 16 new cases on Sunday, for a cumulative total of 1,481 cases since the pandemic began. The city had no new deaths; the cumulative death total remains at 14 deaths.
Below are the numbers for areas near West Hollywood:
- Beverly Hills – 10 new cases for a total of 1,684 cases and 1 new death for a total of 15 deaths.
- Carthay neighborhood – 9 new cases for a total of 638 cases and no new deaths for a total of 31 deaths.
- Culver City – 24 new cases for a total of 1,332 cases and 1 new death for a total of 42 deaths.
- Hollywood – 41 new cases for a total of 3,494 cases and 1 new death for a total of 31 deaths.
- Melrose neighborhood – 74 new cases total of 5,264 cases and 5 new deaths for a total of 106 deaths.
- Miracle Mile – 5 new cases for a total of 575 cases and no new deaths for a total of 7 deaths.
- Park La Brea – 4 new cases for a total of 377 cases and no new deaths for a total of 1 death.
- Santa Monica – 26 new cases for a total of 2,873 cases and 3 new deaths for a total of 72 deaths.
The Carthay neighborhood incorporates the areas of Los Angeles between the Beverly Hills city limits and Fairfax Avenue, with Beverly Boulevard as the northern border and Wilshire Boulevard as the southern border.
The Melrose neighborhood incorporates the areas of Los Angeles east of La Cienega and west of Vermont Avenue, between Santa Monica Boulevard on the north and Beverly Boulevard on the south.
For information about the many resources available to West Hollywood residents who have been impacted by COVID-19, CLICK HERE.
