Los Angeles County health officials are urging key workers to wear face masks in their homes in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to an area where the virus kills someone every seven minutes.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of public health, said Monday that “because there are so many outbreaks, we recommend people wear face masks while they are at home.”
Ferrer said he includes anyone who leaves home every day to work or do errands for family members. She said it is especially important for people who go to work every day and live with elderly residents or residents who have a basic medical condition.
She said she would “add a layer of protection as we go through this growth.”
Los Angeles County is an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, accounting for about 40% of California virus-related deaths and a huge number of new cases.
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Los Angeles County health officials are urging key workers (pictured last month) to wear face shields inside their homes in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the area where the virus kills someone every seven minutes.
Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in Los Angeles County, said Monday that “because there is so much spread, we recommend that people wear face coverings while indoors.”
On Monday, nearly 8,000 people were hospitalized in Los Angeles County, which had fewer than 50 intensive care units available in an area of 10 million people, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county’s director of services. of health.
There is a glimmer of hope, with new hospitalizations nationwide from about 3,500 a day earlier this month to about 2,500. Some forecasts have predicted that hospitalizations will be reduced by the end of the month.
While the county has seen a drop in new cases, Ferrer said it was probably due to a drop in tests after the New Year’s holiday.
She predicted another increase in cases from people who gathered together safely during the holidays.
Ferrer said COVID-19 still kills someone in the county every seven minutes, on average. Deaths rose from 12 deaths a day in early November to more than 200 deaths reported daily last week.
“It’s not the time to meet friends at home to watch the match. This is not the time to go for a walk without a mask. All it takes is one mistake and soon another five, 10 or 20 people will become infected – many of whom could be your friends, family members or colleagues, ”Ferrer said in a statement.
“This deadly virus continues to spread at alarming rates and the most important way to stop it is to avoid interactions with others and to protect ourselves at all times,” she added.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 932,697 positive COVID-19 cases in all areas of LA County and a total of 12,387 deaths.
Meanwhile, California as a whole is turning baseball stadiums, fairgrounds and even a Disneyland Resort parking lot into mass vaccination sites as coronavirus growth overwhelms hospitals.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in California reached 30,000 on Monday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
It took six months for the nation’s most populous state to reach 10,000 deaths, but only a month to go from 20,000 to 30,000 deaths. California ranks third nationally for COVID-19 deaths, behind Texas and New York, which is No. 40 with nearly 40,000.
Public health officials have estimated that about 12% of those who catch the virus will need hospital care, usually a few weeks after infection, as they become ill.
Los Angeles County is an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, accounting for about 40% of California virus deaths and a huge number of new cases.
Ferrer said COVID-19 still kills someone in the county every seven minutes, on average
The Gavin Newsom government and public health officials are relying on large-scale vaccinations to help stop the flow of new infections, starting with health care workers and the most vulnerable, such as those in nursing homes.
Newsom, a Democrat, acknowledged that vaccine launches were too slow and promised 1 million photos to be taken this week, more than double what has been done so far.
This effort will require what Newsom called a “complete deck approach,” including the administration of vaccinations by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, dentists, paramedics and emergency medical technicians, and members of the California National Guard.
Orange County, south of Los Angeles County, announced Monday that its first mass vaccination site will be at a Disneyland Resort parking lot in Anaheim. It is one of five sites to be set up to vaccinate thousands of people daily.
The sites are “absolutely critical in stopping this deadly virus,” county supervisor Doug Chaffee said in a statement.
The state will expand its effort with new mass vaccination sites in the parking lots for Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego and the CalExpo Exhibition Center in Sacramento.
This photo from a video provided by ABC7 Los Angeles shows workers putting the bodies in a refrigerated trailer at the Los Angeles County Forensic Office in Los Angeles on Friday
A member of the California National Guard sits next to refrigerated trailers as a funeral driver leaves the forensic department in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, on Monday
The cars lined up early Monday near the downtown San Diego stadium, where officials sought to inoculate 5,000 health workers daily.
“It’s like a walk in Disneyland,” with cars moving, said Heather Buschman, a spokeswoman for UC San Diego Health, whose medical staff manages the fires.
She said people seemed eager to be vaccinated, with more than 12,500 health workers in San Diego County initially scheduled meetings.
By the end of the week, the city of Los Angeles planned to turn its huge COVID-19 test site at Dodger Stadium into a vaccination center to handle 12,000 vaccinations a day.
MPs also continued to plead with the people to keep social distance to slow the spread of the infection.
“To die because of COVID in the hospital means to die alone,” said Hilda Solis, chair of the county committee of supervisors.
“Visitors are not allowed to enter hospitals for their own safety. Families share their last goodbyes on tablets and mobile phones. ‘
“One of the most heartbreaking conversations our health workers share is about these last words when children apologize to their parents and grandparents for bringing COVID into their homes because they made them sick,” Solis said. ‘
And these apologies are just some of the last words your loved ones will ever hear. ”