Los Angeles Coronavirus Update: “Rapid Increase” In Infections; Cases Up Nearly 25% In Past Week; “Tremendous Suffering” Ahead

On Thursday, Los Angeles posted the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases in over 100 days. The daily total of 2,553 continues the “rapid increase” of new infections, according to L.A. County director of Health and Human Services Dr. Christina Ghaly.

The daily case numbers have further risen from what was then a recent high of 2,065 on November 5. That means daily the daily case total has grown by about 25% in the past week. California as a whole was on the brink of recording over 1 million coronavirus cases total by this weekend.

L.A. County director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer revealed that hospitalizations are also on the rise. On October 3, Ferrer said there were 682 COVID patients hospitalized. On Wednesday, there were 903.

Ferrer today announced seven new deaths related to the pandemic, for a total of 7,221. She said she was “relieved” not to see an increase there, noting that the the numbers in this category were the lowest since “the very early days of the pandemic.” But, the director said, that trend of lower numbers is not likely to continue.

As hospitalizations and deaths lag spikes in cases by 2-3 weeks, “We most likely still haven’t seen the full consequences of the surge we have experienced,” said Ferrer.

She said there were “tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road,” the extent of which would be predicted on L.A. residents’ actions over the next few weeks.

Referencing a retreat to greater restrictions in other parts of the country like New York, Ghaly warned, “If collectively we fail to stop the increase, we will have no choice but to look at additional actions. We’ve been there before, just four months ago.”

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