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COVID-19 hospitalizations in Los Angeles County are at their lowest level since Thanksgiving, authorities said Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the county on Wednesday was 1886, according to state figures released Thursday. Over the past week, COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen an average of about 5% per day and on Tuesday LA County counted 1,988 COVID-19 hospitalizations – the first time the number has fallen in below 2000 since November 26.
At the worst time of the pandemic, 8,098 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in LA County, a number recorded on January 5.
But while the numbers in November grew rapidly – hospitalizations related to COVID-19 rose 47% in one week during this month – they are now moving in the opposite direction. Since last week, COVID-19 hospitalizations across the county have fallen 29%, while new coronavirus cases identified daily have fallen 16%, according to a Times analysis.
The LA County Public Health Department said the daily positivity rate was just over 3%, up from more than 20% around Jan. 1.
Despite the good news, hospitals are taking a long time to recover from the outbreak. County public hospitals are still reporting large numbers of COVID-19 patients with very long stays in intensive care units.
The county also reported on Thursday 10 more cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a severe inflammatory disease associated with COVID-19 that affects people under the age of 21.
The additions bring the total number of MIS-C cases in LA County to 100 – a substantial increase from just over a month ago when there were 62 children with MIS-C in the county.
“This increase in cases is a delayed and distressing result of the surge we experienced in December and January,” the public health department said in a statement, adding that most children with MIS-C had been infected. by COVID-19 at some point before their diagnosis. .
Symptoms of MIS-C include a fever that does not go away and inflamed parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
Of the 100 cases of MIS-C in the county, 30% were children under 5, 40% were between 5 and 11 years old and 30% were between 12 and 20 years old.
The 100 young people diagnosed with MIS-C in LA County were hospitalized and 40% were treated in the ICU. A child died.
“To the many families mourning a loved one who has passed away from COVID-19, we extend our deepest condolences,” LA County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “We continue to feel the impact of the January outbreak of the increase in the number of children with AID-C.”
In LA County, inflammatory syndrome has disproportionately affected Latino children, who account for 71% of reported cases.
And although the overall number of cases and hospitalizations is declining, the county reported on Thursday 109 more deaths from COVID-19 and 1,983 cases. The cumulative death toll rose sharply on Wednesday when the county reported a backlog of more than 800 deaths in the fall and winter wave that pushed the statewide death toll past 50,000 .
LA County has recorded a cumulative total of 21,106 deaths from COVID-19 and 1.19 million confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, immunization efforts continue to tackle issues such as weather conditions, limited doses and failed efforts to direct injections to hard-hit communities. Los Angeles County and San Diego County officials said they continue to not receive weeks of notice of incoming dose shipments, an issue that Gov. Gavin Newsom says will soon be resolved.
Concerns are also growing about mutant variants of the coronavirus, including a California strain that new research strongly suggests spreads more easily than its predecessors.
But the fact that daily coronavirus cases continue to decline is gratifying, said Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of the San Diego County Department of Epidemiology this week.
“So even though it’s a little more contagious than the others around the community, the take home message is the same: that you must do whatever we have recommended to avoid transmission – so wear masks, distance yourself. social, stay at home, ”he told reporters on Wednesday.
The coronavirus cannot mutate if it doesn’t infect people, scientists say. And masks and social distancing are equally effective in preventing the spread of mutant strains.
“With the continued spread of variants that … threaten the progress we make, we must recommit ourselves to doing our part to protect each other,” said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease recently. Control and Prevention of the United States. “Wear a properly fitted mask, stay away socially, avoid travel and crowds, practice good hand hygiene, and get vaccinated when the vaccine is available.”
Times editor Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.
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