The number of coronavirus patients in municipal hospitals rose to 7,613, the highest number seen during the pandemic, with 21% of these people in intensive care units.
Conditions continue to worsen in county hospitals, with ambulances waiting up to eight hours to discharge patients, leading to a shortage of paramedic teams on the streets and longer 911 response times.
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Amid the ongoing disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is sending specialists to help with oxygen delivery systems at six of the county’s oldest hospitals, state officials announced on Friday.
“The current increase in patients … is a kind of hidden disaster, ” said Cathy Chidester, director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services agency, earlier this week.” It is not a fire. It is not an earthquake. It is not a train accident that is in the public eye and they can see what is going on and can avoid that area. Everything is happening behind the doors of homes and hospitals. So no one really, the general public, is really seeing what is going on. ”
Chidester said there are reports of hospitals that are so overloaded that ambulances wait seven or eight hours in the emergency stalls, forcing patients to be treated in the ambulance. But more importantly, the delay is keeping ambulances out of service, rendering them unable to respond to additional emergency medical calls, she said.
“We are running out of ambulances and our response to 911 calls is getting longer and longer,” said Chidester.
She said that in Antelope Valley, the county is using ambulances and ambulance companies “which are not traditionally 911 ambulances” just to keep up with demand.
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Army Corps of Engineers staff will evaluate oxygen systems at the following county hospitals: Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles; Rainha da Saúde Hospital Emanate do Vale, West Covina; Mission Community Hospital, Panorama City; Beverly Community Hospital, Montebello; Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Lakewood; PIH Health Hospital, Downey.
“By working to update the challenging oxygen delivery systems in these older hospitals, we can improve the ability to provide life-support medical care to those who need it,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of health services for the county, said that some hospital pipes fail to maintain sufficient pressure and may even freeze.
Military experts will oversee any updates deemed necessary at the affected hospitals.
LA County launched a # Every10Minutes New Year’s Day Twitter campaign highlighting the pandemic’s deadly number.
A tweet every 10 minutes honors someone who died of COVID-19.
The campaign comes when many people ignore calls to stay home on New Year’s Eve, with a series of public meetings held across Southern California.
Few wore masks at Point Mugu, where actor Kirk Cameron organized another unmasked meeting on Thursday, with groups of people seen on the beach for a religious event.
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It was a similar scene in Valencia, where hundreds filled a parking lot to announce the new year. Few who attended the open-air concert, presented by Christian activist Sean Feucht, at the Higher Vision Church wore masks or were physically distant.
Car enthusiasts gathered in Pasadena for the annual cruise of the Rose’s parade on New Year’s Eve, although the world-famous show has been canceled.
A special task force from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department conducted raids at five New Year’s “overseas” parties across the county, making more than 90 arrests and taking seven pistols off the streets, officials said on Friday.
The attacks included one in Hawthorne, two in Los Angeles, one in Malibu and one in Pomona, LASD Sgt. Bob Boese said. The invaded sites include rented houses, empty warehouses, hotels and closed businesses.
Overall, 90 adults were arrested and cited for violations of the county’s Safer At Home order to contain the increase in COVID-19 cases, Boese continued. One person was arrested for alleged possession of narcotics and a loaded gun. More than 900 people were warned and informed about the update of the security application at home. MPs recovered five revolvers from the event in Hawthorne, officials said.
“I have made it clear that we will seek and take legal action against all over-spreading events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County,” said Sheriff Alex Villanueva. “The purpose of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations. ”
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The latest county figures showed a total of 773 hospital beds available and staffed, including just 57 ICU beds for adults. These numbers change rapidly throughout the day.
With the increase in hospitalizations, there is an increase in deaths, and the county reported a record 290 fatalities on Thursday – although some of those deaths have been attributed to the accumulation of reports that goes back to the Christmas holiday weekend. County public health director Barbara Ferrer noted that 86% of people who died of COVID-19 in the county had underlying health conditions, compared to more than 90% in the early days of the pandemic.
This drop “indicates that, in fact, there are more people than ever before not only dying, but dying without any underlying health problems. ”
Nearly 4,737,000 individuals were tested by Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, with 16% of people testing positive.
The number of coronaviruses in the county is now 790,582 cases and 10,552 deaths.
“These trends will continue into January and, if we do nothing, definitely beyond,” said Ferrer.
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The city’s news service contributed to this report.
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