“The very high numbers I will report today are unfortunately not a surprise,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief of officers in Los Angeles for public health, said Friday.
These numbers come two weeks to the day after Christmas. A surge in infections two weeks after Christmas was predicted by health officials who tried to help LA avoid a new surge.
“This is very clearly the latest boom for the winter holidays and New Year,” Simon said. ‘And it’s likely to continue for the next week or two. We expect these numbers to remain high over the next few weeks. ”
Health officials noted that there was also a hurricane and a Thanksgiving boom. Although daily business has dropped a bit recently, it has fallen to nowhere before the fall or Thanksgiving leap. This means that the holiday boom is piled on top of an already high level of cases.
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Simon noted that the period of two weeks between event and boom shortens over time. “It could be reflected in this increase in a boom,” he said.
“If you look at the last four days, we’ve seen a very increased number,” Simon admits. ‘This is just a clear indication of what happened 2-4 weeks ago during the holidays. Given the large number of cases, we expect this to continue … over the next few weeks. ‘
‘These current numbers could get worse. We can even see a further increase. It is worrying, “said Simon.
“In a sense, our fate is sealed here,” he continued. “Our hospitals are preparing. The mortuaries are preparing. Although we cannot change the past, we can change the future and we need to be more disciplined about our actions. We has on.
Los Angeles County reported another 18,313 COVID-19 cases on Friday, one of the highest daily totals of the pandemic. Thursday’s number of new cases was 19,719 – another record – bringing the overall score since the start of the pandemic to 889,405.
Los Angeles County on Friday reported its first count of more than 300 coronavirus-related daily deaths at 318. By comparison, an average of 170 people die each day in the country from all other causes.
The 318 new deaths increase the nationwide pandemic to 11,863. To make another comparison, it is more deaths in a year than any other premature cause of death, including heart disease, according to the latest figures from the country.
Dr Simon noted that Friday was the one-year anniversary of “when we issued our first LA Health Alert on Covid-19.”