COVID Hospitalizations Surge Across Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES, CA — COVID-19 hospitalizations in Los Angeles County continued to climb Wednesday, an unsettling trend as holiday gatherings approach.

There were 770 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Wednesday — roughly 200 more than in late November. Of the hospitalized patients, 179 were being treated in intensive care. The spike in cases and hospitalizations comes as the highly contagious Omicron variant gets a foothold in Southern California. Health officials are closely monitoring its spread. Fear of an Omicron-fueled surge prompted health officials this week to institute a statewide indoor mask mandate.

Los Angeles County has now confirmed 15 Omicron cases, more than half of which were identified in the last day. None of the patients needed to be hospitalized and less than half showed symptoms, according to health officials. Of the eight cases confirmed on Tuesday, five patients were fully vaccinated but had not received their booster shot.

Another 19 COVID deaths were reported by the county on Wednesday, giving the county an overall virus-related death toll of 27,369.

The county also confirmed another 1,850 new COVID infections, raising the cumulative pandemic total to 1,551,117.

The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus remained relatively low, at 1.2%.

Health officials have been pointing to a post-Thanksgiving uptick in infections and case rates, prompting the state's mask order. Los Angeles County already had such a mandate in place, but the rule will force people in neighboring counties such as Orange and Riverside to mask up, although it was unclear if those counties would enforce the rule.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week the trend in COVID numbers marked what could be the onset of a winter surge in cases, and she has urged more people to get vaccinated or receive booster shots.

On Wednesday, Ferrer hailed the work of community organizations for their help encouraging residents in hard-hit areas to get the vaccine.

"Longstanding inequities in access to health affirming opportunities have played an important role in contributing to the higher case, hospitalization and death rates experienced by Black and Latinx communities over the course of the pandemic," Ferrer said in a statement. "To overcome these inequities, we need to work to address multiple challenges in the equitable distribution of the very resources we each need to be healthy: clean air and water, healthy foods, safe parks, affordable housing, good jobs, and quality healthcare.

"This is the work that we will need to do if we are serious about building trust with residents and workers across our communities," she said. "Our partnerships with community organizations have taught us the importance of strengthening relationships and aligning resources with those who have often been marginalized and left behind."

Black and Latino/a residents have consistently lagged behind their white and Asian counterparts in getting vaccinated against COVID-19, although there has been some upward movement in the vaccination numbers.

Slate broke down the disproportionate COVID-19 death rate in America Wednesday. "Of the nearly 400,000 COVID deaths in 2020, only about 4,000—1 percent—were among non-Hispanic college-educated white individuals age 25 to 64. As of this fall, 1 in every 240 Indigenous people have died, 1 in 390 Latinos, and 1 in 480 Black Americans; 1 out of 100 people older than age 65 have died. COVID... picks off racial and ethnic minorities, the working poor, the medically vulnerable, and the elderly, with prolific precision," Slate reported.

As of last week, 83% of Los Angeles County residents aged 12 and over had received at least one dose of vaccine, and 75% were fully vaccinated. Of all eligible residents aged 5 and over, 77% have received at least one dose, and 69% are fully vaccinated.

Of the more than 6.15 million fully vaccinated people in the county, 84,931 have tested positive, or about 1.38%. A total of 2,798 vaccinated people have been hospitalized, for a rate of 0.046%, and 537 have died, for a rate of 0.009%.

The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa, but it has quickly spread to dozens of countries worldwide. While the variant is blamed for a spike in cases in South Africa, studies are continuing on whether Omicron is more dangerous, more easily transmitted or potentially resistant to vaccines.

Health officials have thus far said current vaccinations appear to be effective against the variant.

Omicron has been deemed a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.