Los Angeles County revealed more than 5,000 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, Dec. 7, as rising case numbers continued to point to a winter viral surge, with hospitalization numbers also climbing upward again.
Providing a somewhat ironic counterpoint to the COVID report, the City of Los Angeles’ state of local emergency spurred by the deadly coronavirus pandemic will end in February, the City Council decided, the vote coming just before the latest infection report was posted by the county Department of Public Health.
The state of local emergency has been in place since March 4, 2020. The council has voted to extend it each month since then. Council President Paul Krekorian introduced an amendment to Wednesday’s item to continue the state of local emergency, but set an end date for Feb. 1, 2023.
Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian talks with council member Marqueece Harris-Dawson at the council meeting at Los Angeles City Hall Wednesday, October 26, 2022. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Mike Bonin and Nithya Raman voted against the end date, but the entire item passed 12-0. No council members offered comment before the vote.
The 5,051 new cases reported by the county pushed its overall total from throughout the pandemic of 3,570,525. Health officials have noted that the officially reported case numbers are an undercount of actual virus activity in the county, since many residents take at-home tests without reporting the results, and many others don’t bother getting tested at all.
The county also reported 12 more COVID-related deaths on Wednesday, lifting the cumulative death toll to 34,263.
According to state figures, there were 1,293 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Wednesday, up from 1,270 on Tuesday and up more than 100 from a week ago. Of those patients, 142 were being treated in intensive care units, down from 151 a day earlier.
The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 13.6% as of Wednesday.
County health officials are keeping a close watch on COVID-related hospitalization numbers, warning that continued increases could lead to another indoor mask-wearing mandate in public spaces.
The rate of daily cases has been steadily rising, but Wednesday’s number was among the largest single-day total in quite a while. The jump in one day shows the seriousness of the cold-weather spike.
Health officials have been warning about a possible surge of COVID-19 during the winter months and have repeatedly urged residents to ensure they are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, and to get a flu shot.
“We encourage everyone to get the COVID vaccine or updated booster if eligible, the flu shot, wash hands regularly, consider wearing a mask in crowded indoor areas, and stay home if you’re sick,” said Dr. Nancy Gin, Kaiser Permanente regional medical director of quality and clinical analysis.
The county has already moved into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “medium” virus activity level, after weeks in the “low” category. The county could move into the “high” category as early as this week, if the weekly rate of new infections reaches 200 per 100,000 residents. As of last Thursday, that rate was 185 per 100,000 residents, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week.
The CDC updates its classifications every Thursday.
Ferrer said the county will re-impose an indoor mask mandate if it moves into the “high” category and if the county’s virus-related hospitalization numbers reach two thresholds:
— if the rate of daily hospital admissions tops 10 per 100,000 residents; and
— if the percent of staffed hospital beds occupied by COVID patients tops 10%.
The county has already surpassed the first threshold, with the rate of daily hospital admissions already at 14.5 per 100,000 residents as of Sunday, according to the CDC. The percent of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients was 6.6% as of Sunday, still below the 10% threshold.
Masks are still required indoors at health-care and congregate-care facilities, for anyone exposed to the virus in the past 10 days, and at businesses where they are required by the owner.
In other indoor locations, masking is only “strongly recommended” by the county.
Hospital officials asked that L.A. County residents stay away from emergency rooms unless necessary.
“ERs are getting overrun with everyone coming in with minor stuff and they are having to wait a long time in the waiting room and are potentially infecting other people,” said Dr. Jorge Vournas, emergency department medical director at Providence Little Company of Mary in Torrance. “We would like to reserve the ER more for people with respiratory distress who can’t breathe or are having breathing difficulties.”
City News Service contributed to this report