One person dies every 10 minutes of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County and hospitals are running out of available ICU beds, as well as sufficient supplies of oxygen.
There are now 6,708 patients with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County hospitals – a number that has steadily increased to unprecedented levels in recent weeks – as the region’s available ICU capacity is listed as 0.0%.
Dr. Anu Seshadri of UCLA Health says that while there is no shortage of supplies in her hospital system, autonomous oxygen tanks and plastic tubes are vital to this struggle.
“This is what we feared. It is supply versus demand,” she said. “We fear that demand will outstrip supply. This is what is happening now.”
Los Angeles County officials are investigating whether a new strain of the virus that has appeared in South Africa and the UK has made it this far. The new strain is considered to be more contagious, although not necessarily more deadly than previous strains.
“Given that LA is a travel hub, people who come here to visit, family leaving, schools present, it would not be surprising if this new strain that was identified in the UK was identified here in Los Angeles,” Seshadri said.
Much of the recent increase is attributed to meetings during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Health officials have warned people to stay home during winter holidays, but millions of Americans are still traveling. On Christmas Eve, the TSA tracked nearly 1 million people.
There is also new information being published about a rare COVID-related syndrome that affects children.
The chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Hilda Solis, says the county is seeing an increase in cases of multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
She says the county has seen 51 cases of MIS-C, including the death of a child. All cases were hospitalized and about half ended up in the ICU.
“It is heartbreaking that every day, more than 14,000 Los Angeles County residents test positive for COVID-19,” said Solis. “It is even more painful to see an increasing number of children being infected with MISC-C.”
“There is a misconception that COVID-19 affects only those who are older or those with underlying health problems. At this point in the crisis, we can say with certainty that COVID-19 causes serious consequences for people of all ages, including children, and even without underlying health conditions. In Los Angeles County, the Latinx community is suffering the impact of the COVID-19 and MISC-C cases. ”
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