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The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals rose to 7,613, the highest number seen during the pandemic, with 21% of those people in intensive care units.
Conditions continue to worsen in county hospitals, with ambulances waiting up to eight hours to unload patients, resulting in a shortage of paramedics on the streets and longer 911 response times.
RELATED: More People With No Underlying Conditions Die From COVID in LA County
Amid the unfolding disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is sending experts to help with oxygen delivery systems at six of the county’s oldest hospitals, state officials said on Friday.
“The current surge in patients … it’s kind of a hidden disaster,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the county’s emergency medical services agency, earlier this week. “It’s not a fire. It is not an earthquake. It is not a train wreck that is in public view and they can see what is going on and avoid this area. Everything happens behind the doors of households and hospitals. So no one is really, the general public, really doesn’t see what’s going on. ”
Chidester said there were reports of hospitals so overwhelmed that ambulances wait seven or eight hours in emergency bays, forcing patients to be treated in the ambulance. But more importantly, the delay prevents ambulances from functioning, leaving them unable to respond to additional emergency medical calls, she said.
“We are running out of ambulances and our response to 911 calls is getting longer and longer,” Chidester said.
She said in the Antelope Valley, the county is using ambulances and ambulance companies “which are not traditionally 911 response ambulances” just to keep up with demand.
RELATED: California Reaches Record 585 COVID-19 Deaths in 1 Day as Infections Run Out of Control
The Army Corps of Engineers team will evaluate the oxygen systems at the following county hospitals: Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles; Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina; Mission Community Hospital, Panorama City; Beverly Community Hospital, Montebello; Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Lakewood; PIH Health Hospital, Downey.
“By working to upgrade the difficult oxygen delivery systems at these older hospitals, we can improve the ability to provide life-saving medical care to those in need,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the office. of the governor’s emergency services.
Dr Christina Ghaly, county health services director, said pipes at some hospitals cannot maintain sufficient pressure and may even freeze.
Military experts will oversee any upgrades deemed necessary at affected hospitals.
LA County launched a # Every10Minutes New Years Twitter campaign highlighting the death toll of the pandemic.
A tweet every 10 minutes pays tribute to someone who died of COVID-19.
The campaign comes as many people have ignored calls to stay home on New Years Eve, with a number of public rallies staged in Southern California.
Few people wore masks at Point Mugu where actor Kirk Cameron held another maskless rally on Thursday, with groups of people seen on the beach for a religious event.
RELATED: Kirk Cameron Hosts New Years Eve Meeting at Point Mugu, Despite Warnings From Public Health Officials
It was a similar scene in Valencia, where hundreds of people filled a parking lot to ring in the New Year. Few of those who attended the open-air concert, hosted by Christian activist Sean Feucht, at Higher Vision Church, wore masks or were physically distant.
Car enthusiasts have gathered in Pasadena for their annual New Years Rose Parade cruise, even though the world-famous show has been canceled.
A special task force from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department conducted raids at five New Years Eve “super-spreader” parties across the county, making more than 90 arrests and removing seven handguns. streets, officials said on Friday.
The raids included one in Hawthorne, two in Los Angeles, one in Malibu and one in Pomona, LASD Sgt. Bob Boese said. The looted locations included rented houses, vacant warehouses, hotels and closed businesses.
Overall, 90 adults have been arrested and cited for violations of the county’s Safer At Home order to stem the surge in COVID-19 cases, Boese continued. One person was arrested for suspected possession of narcotics and a loaded firearm. More than 900 people have been notified and informed of the Safer Home Order update. MPs recovered five handguns during the event in Hawthorne, officials said.
“I have made it clear that we will research and take law enforcement action against all super spreader events occurring anywhere in Los Angeles County,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “The purpose of these enforcement measures is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations.”
RELATED: LA County Reminds People to Stay Home in Powerful Twitter Campaign
The county’s most recent figures showed a total of 773 available and staffed hospital beds, with just 57 adult ICU beds. These numbers change rapidly throughout the day.
With the increase in hospitalizations comes an increase in deaths, and the county reported a record 290 deaths on Thursday – although some of those deaths were attributed to the backlog of reports dating back to the Christmas weekend . County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted that 86% of people who died from COVID-19 in the county had underlying health issues, up from more than 90% in the early days of the pandemic.
This drop “indicates that in fact there are more people than ever before not only died, but died without any underlying health problem.”
Nearly 4,737,000 people had been tested as of Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, with 16% of those testing positive.
The county’s coronavirus toll now stands at 790,582 cases and 10,552 deaths.
“These trends will continue into January, and if we don’t do something, definitely beyond,” Ferrer said.
RELATED: United States Reaches 20 Million in COVID-19 Cases
City News Service contributed to this report.
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