COVID peak: LA County reports 2,767 new cases, highest level since February

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (KABC) – Los Angeles County now has its highest daily count of COVID-19 cases since mid-February.

The county health department reported 2,767 new cases on Thursday. That’s an 80% increase in just one week – and 20 times more than the figure a month earlier.

The new number of cases has now exceeded 1,000 for 14 consecutive days, down from well below 200 per day in mid-June. The county has now reported more than 1.27 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations also continue to increase, from 585 Tuesday to 645 Wednesday and then to 655 Thursday. On June 21, the county reported just 213 people hospitalized due to COVID.

Revolutionary cases
Fully vaccinated people made up 20% of those who tested positive in June, LA County health officials said. But they also pointed out that most of them did not have severe symptoms and did not require hospitalization.

And even though we’re seeing more breakthrough cases, LA officials say 99.8% of people who have died from the virus in the past few months are not vaccinated.

If the state still used the color-coded tier system, Los Angeles County would have fallen back into the more restrictive purple tier, causing some businesses to shut down and severely limited capacity in others.

That’s why doctors across the region continue to urge people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already.

“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Victor Waters, chief medical officer of St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino. “I am appalled, I am frustrated with the community’s lack of commitment and will to launch these vaccines. It seems like such a simple solution, but it has turned into a big mess.”

While San Bernardino County doesn’t have as big a peak as Los Angeles, he says they’re not far behind.

“It’s no surprise because you had July 4th, you had the restaurants and bars reopened, and it’s no surprise when you consider that too little of the community has been vaccinated.”

He says most people hospitalized are not vaccinated, with very few breakthrough cases requiring medical attention. Despite this, he says they still don’t see much interest in vaccine appointments.

“There is so much confusion on social media that I call it paralysis analysis. The community is affected in so many different directions, they don’t know how to act, which means they are paralyzed in the real action. . “

Many think full FDA approval will help, but they think there’s a lot more to the equation.

“In a fire, everyone on the bridge. It would be a mitigating factor. The other is to go door to door, to go out, to have much more proactive vaccination campaigns, in particular with communities of color. “

Dr Waters believes there must be a new strategy, instead of just going back with restrictions.

“To do something innovative, new, fresh and inspiring. I think this is what our community needs, because going back is going to be frustrating and may even cause more resistance.”