The county announced a total of 5,100 hospitalizations, along with 96 new deaths and 16,504 additional cases of COVID-19. Four additional cases of coronavirus-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, known as MIS-C, have also been reported.
Of those currently hospitalized, 20% are in the ICU.
“Since Monday, LA County has reported more than 71,000 new COVID-19 cases; an acceleration of cases never seen before in our community,” the LA County Department of Public Health said. “As the number of cases continues to rise, so will the total number of people who become seriously ill or die.”
Health officials say the current rate of hospitalizations is accelerating at an “alarming rate”.
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Meanwhile, the four new cases of MIS-C bring the total number of cases in LA County to 49. All 49 children diagnosed with the rare disease were hospitalized. Last week, the county confirmed that a child died due to MIS-C, the first such death in the county.
At the end of October, Los Angeles County health officials reported a total of 43 locally known cases.
The impact of the virus’s rise on the emergency medical system was highlighted on Thursday morning, when the state announced that the region of 11 counties in Southern California has officially reached zero capacity in intensive care units.
The designation does not mean that there are no beds available, as the state adjusts the capacity figure based on the ratio of patients with COVID-19 occupying the ICU space.
LA County reported that there are approximately 699 hospital beds available, including 69 ICU beds. Hospitals have been forced to open ICU beds in various departments, and staff are stretched.
Meanwhile, California has become the latest epicenter of coronavirus. The state has reported 190,000 COVID-19 cases in the past four days.
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