LA County COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 13,000
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Thursday reported 17,323 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 287 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 975,299 cases and 13,234 deaths.
In just one week, the county has added nearly 2,000 COVID-19 deaths and surpassed another grim milestone of 13,000 total deaths.
Of the 287 new deaths reported, 115 people were over the age of 80, 95 people were between the ages of 65 and 70, 47 people were between the ages of 50 and 64 and 13 people were between the ages of 30 and 49.
There were 7,906 COVID-19 patients hospitalized Thursday, 21% of whom were being treated in intensive care units. In just two months, health officials said daily hospitalizations have gone from just under 800 to just under 8,000.
According to the California Department of Public Health, the Southern California Region continued to have 0% ICU capacity remaining.
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Health officials reported three additional deaths among pregnant women who have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to eight. In total, 5,009 pregnant women have tested positive for coronavirus in L.A. County, 79% of whom are Latinx. Among the 2,493 births where testing information was available, 37 babies tested positive for the virus.
County health officials continued to urge residents to stay home when possible, practice social distancing, wear face coverings in public and continue to wash their hands frequently.
"When we ask our residents to stay home and follow the rules and businesses to follow the Health Officer Orders, it is to stop the loss of life from COVID-19," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "This disease is running rampant right now, and we continue to plead with residents, businesses and government, the community to do all possible to stop the spread."
Health officials also said the department was moving "as quickly as possible" to vaccinate healthcare workers and would begin to offer vaccines to people 65 and older as soon as additional doses were received.
The department will host a COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Town Hall on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. It will be streamed live on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Questions can be submitted online prior to the event.
With testing results available for nearly 5,120,000 people, the county's overall positivity rate was 18%.
