Los Angeles reported the highest number of new daily Covid cases since the pandemic began on Friday. The previous record was set almost exactly a year ago at the height of the winter wave. On January 4, the county recorded 21,849 new infections, according to its data dashboard. Today the number rose to 27,091 in 24 hours, a new record and by about 35% compared to the 20,198 infections yesterday.
“In almost doubled cases [the past] 2 days and only about 1 in 4 people who test positive, Public Health urges everyone to minimize the risk of spreading the virus by not holding or attending large gatherings this upcoming holiday weekend, “said a statement from the LA County Public Health department.
“Since the explosive transmission is likely to continue for a few more weeks, all efforts must now focus on protecting our health system from overload,” said department head Barbara Ferrer.
“Explosive” is a good word to describe a local test positive rate that almost doubled in the last week from 11.4% to 22.4% – see table below. That is an amazing leap for a key figure that is averaged over seven days and recorded as a percentage to compensate for daily peaks and valleys. Everything was at its peak this week, with test positive seeing the steepest spike in the pandemic, which likely means today’s number is unlikely to be the last record high number of Covid cases in LA
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Ferrer also admitted this week that hospital admissions – a lagging indicator – have increased significantly, a development the county wanted to avoid due to increased vaccinations and the assumption that Omicron is likely less contagious. But hospital admissions with Covid increased 60% this week, from 850 on Monday to 1,365 today.
The death toll is still small, but Ferrer warned that they usually follow 3-4 weeks after a surge in hospital admissions.
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