More Californians died of COVID-19 in January than in any other month of the pandemic, according to data from The Times tracker, with LA County continuing to bear the brunt of the virus.
In the first month of 2021, 14,940 people lost their lives due to the disease in California, bringing the state’s death toll to close to 41,000, meaning that at least 1 in 1,000 Californians was killed by COVID-19.
In Los Angeles County, 6,411 people died in January – 137% more than in the previous most lethal month of December, in which 2,703 people died. To date, some 17,000 people have died from the disease in the county.
The record number of deaths occurs despite a downward trend in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as well as increased vaccination in Los Angeles County.
Currently, only about 2,700 deaths separate California from New York, where just over 43,600 people have died from the disease since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. But New York peaked in April, while California is still recovering from a sudden increase that began in late November.
Calling this a “critical pandemic moment,” LA County public health director Barbara Ferrer said on Monday that it is important that the public not relax, although some numbers have improved and restrictions have been lifted.
“It’s … time to remain super vigilant against this deadly virus and stay at home as long as possible,” said Ferrer. “It is only through actions that every company and individual in LA County takes that we will see this continuous reduction in transmission.”
The sudden increase in LA County peaked in early January, said Ferrer, after which the average number of daily deaths from COVID-19 fell by about 33%. But, she noted, it was “really just a very small drop” compared to the 1,400% increase in deaths that hit the county during December and January.
“Any further increase in cases would require us to step back on our recovery journey, and that is something that none of us want,” said Ferrer. “We are still living the nightmare of a wave.”
Across the country, the numbers are equally dismal: more than 95,000 people in the U.S. died of COVID-19 in January, surpassing the previous December record of just over 77,000. More than 441,000 people have died across the country since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, just over a year ago.
Even so, Los Angeles County continues to suffer disproportionately: according to Johns Hopkins, LA has recorded more deaths than any other county in the United States. Chicago’s Cook County is a distant second, with 9,420 deaths.
LA County now has an average of about 6,200 new coronavirus cases per day in the past week, significantly below the average of about 15,100 new cases per day recorded in early January, but still much higher than the daily average of less than 1,000 new cases per day in mid-October.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 is now around 5,300, the lowest since mid-December. COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked in LA County on January 5, reaching 8,098, but are still much higher than in early October, when there were fewer than 700 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals in the county.
The average daily number of COVID-19 deaths is still high in LA County – about 215 deaths a day last week. The average daily peak was 241, recorded for the seven-day period that ended on January 14.
A Times analysis found that in January, there were 63.5 deaths per 100,000 LA County residents. Across the state, the rate was 38.2.
Of great concern to employees is the emergence of B.1.1.7 variant, which kept the municipality on high alert. Officials from the LA County Department of Public Health confirmed on Saturday the second case of the UK variant, which is more transmissible and may be more deadly than the most common coronavirus strain.
Variant B.1.1.7, first identified in Britain, is not considered a dominant strain in LA County, but San Diego County officials and experts have warned that its emergence could plausibly overburden hospitals if people deciding to stop wearing masks and moving away physically, as they did in the weeks before Thanksgiving.
Authorities are asking residents and businesses to remain vigilant about personal protection actions and security measures.
“As some sectors have reopened, this does not mean that the risk of community transmission has disappeared,” said Ferrer in a press release. “It hasn’t changed, and each of us needs to make very careful choices about what we do and how we do it. This virus is strong and we are now concerned with the variants and what this will mean in our region ”.
Public health officials announced the first confirmed case of the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 variant in the county on 16 January. Days later, a second “home” strain, B.1.426, was found to account for nearly a quarter of 4,500 viral samples collected across California in the last weeks of 2020.
In addition, four new cases of multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children were reported by health officials on Saturday, bringing the total number of MIS-C cases in LA County to 66 children, including one death.
MIS-C is an inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19. Symptoms include fever that does not go away and inflamed body parts, including heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs.
All 66 children with MIS-C in LA County were hospitalized, officials said, and 44% were admitted to intensive care. Of those infected, 32% were less than 5 years old; 38% were 5 to 11 years old; and 30% were between 12 and 20 years old.
Latino children accounted for nearly three-quarters of reported MIS-C cases, continuing the alarmingly high levels of COVID-19-related illnesses among the county’s Latino population.
“There is great sadness, sadness and loss in our county as a result of COVID-19,” said Ferrer. “Although some restrictions have just been lifted in our municipality, we are still in a very dangerous period in terms of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.”
The last time hospitals were able to offer their full range of services was in early November, when there were less than 900 COVID-19 patients at LA County facilities, Ferrer said on Monday, adding, “While we’re at right way, we still have a way to go before our hospitals are not overcrowded and health professionals are not stressed ”.
The most recent data show that the most recent increase was again driven by young adults, but caused the largest hospitalizations and deaths among older residents.
Among a sample of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 from August to December, 43% were 65 or older and 86% had at least one underlying health condition. Two out of three hospitalized patients were overweight or obese; 41% had type 2 diabetes and almost two thirds had cardiovascular disease.
“These numbers are a strong reminder of the risk of serious illness among the elderly and people with underlying health problems,” said Ferrer. “Many, many people in LA County fall into one or more of these at-risk groups, and we must all do our best to protect them.”
Meanwhile, vaccination efforts continue in the county, despite a difficult start and an anti-vaccination demonstration that hampered operations at Dodger Stadium over the weekend. Authorities on Monday criticized protesters who blocked access for people trying to get vaccines.
“I was very upset and discouraged,” said LA County supervisor Hilda Solis of the interruption of vaccination efforts.
Solis said authorities will create space for protesters in the future, who can share their views, but “will not disturb” the flow of traffic.
“I understand that people have rights to the 1st amendment. … But when you become disruptive and really create more problems through congestion, traffic jams or hostility in a way that is not conducive, I would like our public safety officials to be involved and to be there to protect everyone involved ”, Solis said.
To date, more than 886,000 doses of the two types of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the county, according to The Times vaccination tracker.
“LA County has administered more doses of vaccine today than any other county or large city in the United States, and we have the highest percentage of administration,” said Ferrer.
But shipments have been inconsistent. In the week of January 11, LA County received 193,950 doses of vaccine; the following week, he received only 168,575 doses and only 146,225 doses the following week.
“The rate of vaccination remains very slow because of the limited supply,” said Ferrer, adding that second doses are being prioritized among residents in the region.