More Californians are dying of COVID-19 now than at any other time in the pandemic.
But as fierce as the coronavirus has spread this fall, it continues to target some communities much more than others.
More than 1,500 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past week – 7% of the more than 22,000 total coronavirus-related deaths.
The death toll seen on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – 295, 394, 288 and 265, respectively – is the deadliest four days the state has seen during the entire pandemic, according to data compiled by The Times.
California broke a record for most coronavirus cases in a single day on Friday, with 53,326, surpassing the last set on Wednesday, when 52,330 cases were reported, according to The Times’ county-by-county survey. Now, the state has on average over 40,000 new cases of coronavirus a day in the last week, a new record and 10 times higher than the Halloween figure.
The record number of Californians currently hospitalized for COVID-19 was broken for 20 days in a row, to 16,019 by Thursday, including 3,447 people in intensive care units. COVID-19 hospitalizations have multiplied sevenfold since mid-October.
The state recorded 265 deaths through COVID-19 on Friday, the fourth-highest number in a single day. California now has an average of 226 deaths a day, also a new record, and five times the comparable figure since early November.
Elderly Californians and people of color are disproportionately affected by the latest wave.
The director of public health in LA County, Barbara Ferrer, warned that the weekly number of deaths in qualified healthcare institutions is starting to increase, although it did not reach the level observed at the beginning of the pandemic.
And while the death rate among white residents remains stable – from one to two a day per 100,000 residents – the mortality rate for Latino, black and Asian residents is rising. Among Latino residents in the last four weeks, for example, the death rate has risen from 1.4 daily deaths per 100,000 residents to 4.5 daily deaths per 100,000.
Latino communities are at greater risk for several reasons. Members tend to be essential workers who have to go to retail stores, factories and other sites, rather than work from home, increasing the chance of coming into contact with an infected person. Some Latino neighborhoods are more densely populated, making it easier for the virus to spread.
Among black residents, the mortality rate increased from less than 1 death per 100,000 residents to more than 3 deaths per 100,000.
And among Asian residents, the mortality rate has risen from 0.5 deaths per 100,000 residents to 3 deaths per 100,000.
California now it rises to an average of 203 COVID-19 deaths per day over a period of seven days and 35,200 cases per day – both records and both quadruple the number since mid-November.
Younger adults spread the virus the most, officials said, but it is the older adults, when they become infected, who die at the highest rates.
In a week of losses, there was some hope. The first doses of COVID-19 vaccine have arrived, and hundreds of thousands more are on the way.
Hundreds of health workers in LA County received a dose and this number was expected to reach 1,500 by the end of Friday and about 6,000 by Christmas.
“Our goal is to reach 10,000 vaccinations against the workforce by the end of the calendar year,” said Dr. Paul Giboney, associate chief medical officer at the County Department of Health Services.
But large-scale inoculation for the public is probably still a few months away. Given the widespread spread of coronavirus, officials say it is vital that residents do everything they can to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
“We need the public to listen to these mitigation strategies to slow the spread or we will be completely exhausted. [hospital] beds, ”Giboney said.
This means wearing masks in public, washing your hands regularly and staying home when you are sick. Perhaps most critically, officials say, people should keep a physical distance from those they do not live with and avoid gathering with them.
While the last question might be a bridge too far for pandemic-tired Californians eager to ring in the winter break with family and friends, officials say some seeds of today’s virulent waves were planted around Thanksgiving Day, when too many have traveled or gathered in defiance of public health warnings.
Making the same choice this time, officials warn, will only prolong – and potentially worsen – growth.
“We are now learning a very painful lesson that, despite how much we want things to return to normal, this virus is tireless and will continue to spread, make people sick and, tragically, lead to human death,” Ferrer said. in a statement. “We cannot afford a new increase in the holiday season, which will further overwhelm our already tense hospitals and medical staff.
“We must all work together to prevent as many deaths as possible.”
Colleen Shalby, Times Times writer, contributed to the report.
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