Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti made an impressive comparison on Thursday. The mayor said the nearly record 259 daily deaths from Covid-19 in LA County on Tuesday were “more than all homicides in 2019 in the city of LA combined”.
This is impressive data, especially for those who, at the beginning of the pandemic, compared the virus to an annual flu season. In 2017, the most recent year for which data are available, pneumonia and the flu killed 1,957 in LA County. At the end of 2020, the death toll as a result of the pandemic was 10,346. This number is not only 5 times higher than the deaths from influenza in 2017, but it would also be very close to the top of the list of major fatalities. That year, coronary heart disease was the biggest cause of death, taking 11,211 lives.
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Garcetti’s mix of city and county numbers is admittedly apples with oranges. But the contrast is still striking considering the time periods – one year of homicides to one day in Covid’s deaths – being compared.
The rate of positivity for the daily test in LA county rose to 20.4% on Thursday. This means that one in five people tested in the county tested positive for Covid-19. The result was 19,719 new cases recorded across the county on Thursday. There were 8,098 people hospitalized with Covid-19. Twenty percent of these people were in the ICU. Since January 3, the number of Covid patients hospitalized has increased by more than 550 people. The number of virus deaths recorded across the county on Thursday was 218.
Daily update of COVID-19:
January 7, 2021
New cases: 19,719 (871,404 to date)
New deaths: 218 (11,545 so far)
Current hospitalizations: 8,098 pic.twitter.com/F9XULB2wdL– LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) January 8, 2021
California in general reported an almost record number of daily deaths – 583 – on Thursday. These are just two fatalities below the historic record of 585 that the state suffered on December 31. The country in general recorded its worst death pandemic ever, 3,856.
The mayor has warned of the coming weeks.
“I don’t believe this is a new level that will automatically fall,” said Garcetti. “In fact, I believe this is just a break before a new spike brought on by the evidence we see of a lot of movement around Christmas and New Year. So wait, because things can get worse. “
You can watch Mayor Gacetti’s speech on Thursday below.