Health officials estimate one in three LA County residents have been infected with coronavirus

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Health officials estimate one in three LA County residents have been infected with coronavirus

Los Angeles County scientists now estimate that one in three residents has contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

That would mean at least 3 million of the county’s 10 million people have been infected – more than triple the number confirmed by tests, according to the Times.

“Unfortunately, we are still engaging in behaviors that facilitate the spread of the virus, so it is still able to find many people with the potential to infect,” Roger Lewis, director of COVID-19 hospital demand modeling for the Los Angeles County Health Services Department, told the newspaper.

For herd immunity through vaccination to become an effective virus control strategy, about 75% of the county’s residents would need to develop immunity, Lewis said.

Video: For nurses, California virus outbreak is having personal consequences (Associated Press)

California virus outbreak has personal consequences for nurses

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The county has become a hotspot for the coronavirus in a state that leads the country in infection rates.

As the virus continues to ravage the region, emergency room capacity has fallen to zero percent. Some hospitals have resorted to keeping patients in gift shops and other non-designated treatment areas. Los Angeles County ambulances were even reportedly told not to transport patients who had a low chance of survival this month in order to maintain oxygen availability as the pandemic worsens.

“The high number of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals is distressing not only for those who have COVID-19, but for everyone else in the county who needs acute care during this time,” the health department said. county in a statement. “People who have a stroke or a heart attack or who sustain a traumatic injury as a result of a car accident have more difficulty accessing care than usual hours.

As of January 4, the county health department reported that 7,697 people had been hospitalized with coronavirus. By the beginning of November, that hospitalized figure was 791. By the end of December, the county had reached the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths from the virus.