Los Angeles County recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in a single day ever on Friday as the virus rages on and the county continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic.
County health officials announced 318 more people dead from the coronavirus on Friday. That number far surpasses the previous high which was 290 deaths reported on Dec. 31, however that number included some deaths that had occurred earlier in the Christmas holidays, but were not reported until later. These 318 deaths were all in one day.
The county’s cumulative death toll is now 11,863 people.
Those 318 deaths are almost double the number of non-COVID-related deaths the county typically sees. On average, the county has approximately 170 deaths each day from all other causes combined, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, car crashes, suicides, and homicides.
“The scale of the tragedy associated with this pandemic is unfathomable,” Dr. Paul Simon, county Public Health Department’s chief science officer, told reporters. “Even more so because so much of it is preventable. The very high numbers I will report today are sadly no surprise. They didn’t happen by accident. They’re a direct result of the many people who are not following the necessary precautions over the winter holiday – – not wearing face coverings, not limiting contact with those outside their households, not physically distancing when outside the home and not refraining from traveling.
“We anticipate the number of hospitalizations and deaths will remain high throughout this month because of what occurred over the holidays,” he said.
The record number of deaths came on the one-year anniversary of the first alert issued by the LA County Department of Public Health about the emerging respiratory illness in Wuhan, China.
“This alert described the beginning of what we now sadly know has become the most significant infectious disease pandemic of this past century,” Simon said.
There are 8,074 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County on Friday. That’s 24 fewer people than were hospitalized on Thursday when there were 8,098 people hospitalized, which is the highest number of hospitalizations the county has ever recorded.
Of those hospitalized, 20% are in the ICU. That translates to about 1,615 people in the ICU.
County Department of Health Services statistics show a total of 761 beds available in all of the county’s 70 “911-receiving” hospitals, including 54 adult ICU beds.
On Friday, Los Angeles County reported 18,313 new COVID-19 cases. The county now has a cumulative total of 889,045 cases since the pandemic began in March.
To date, more than 4.92 million people have been tested for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Of those tested, an overall average of 17% are testing positive, but the positivity rate for Friday was 19.5%.
West Hollywood recorded 29 new cases on Friday, for a cumulative total of 1,592 cases since the pandemic began. The city had one new death; the cumulative death total is now 17 deaths.
Below are the numbers for areas near West Hollywood:
- Beverly Hills – 41 new cases for a total of 1,848 cases and no new deaths for a total of 15 deaths.
- Carthay neighborhood – 9 new cases for a total of 692 cases and 1 new death for a total of 32 deaths.
- Culver City – 28 new cases for a total of 1,480 cases and 1 new death for a total of 47 deaths.
- Hollywood – 78 new cases for a total of 3,735 cases and 4 new deaths for a total of 36 deaths.
- Melrose neighborhood – 140 new cases total of 5,725 cases and 2 new deaths for a total of 118 deaths.
- Miracle Mile – 9 new cases for a total of 624 cases and no new deaths for a total of 7 deaths.
- Park La Brea – 12 new cases for a total of 412 cases and no new deaths for a total of 1 death.
- Santa Monica – 54 new cases for a total of 3,110 cases and 5 new deaths for a total of 84 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.
