LA County Reports 'Dangerously Low' Hospital Capacity, 11,476 New Coronavirus Cases
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- Los Angeles County health officials on Saturday reported a continuing trend of troubling coronavirus figures.
Public Health confirmed 70 new deaths and 11,476 additional positive Cases of COVID-19.
To date, L.A. County has recorded a total of 512,872 coronavirus cases and 8,269 deaths.
As of Saturday, officials were reporting 3,850 COVID-19 hospitalizations in L.A. County, and 22% of COVID-19 patients are in the ICU.
Despite the expected availability of vaccines, health experts continue to stress the importance of taking precautions to help steer the county away from worsening coronavirus numbers.
"While vaccines are around the corner, they will not be here in time to prevent compromising care for seriously ill individuals at our hospitals. Only we can do that by following the public health directives: Stay home except for performing essential work and/or acquiring essential services," county health director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. "Always wear a face covering when out of your house and know that every single time you are with people not in your household you are running a serious risk of being exposed to the virus."
The resources listed below can provide information about the pandemic and best practices for staying safe:
- L.A. County residents can call 2-1-1
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/
- California Department of Public Health: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/index.html Spanish https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index-sp.html
- World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
