California: Critical Condition
More dire COVID numbers were reported Saturday with 16,504 new cases and 96 deaths in Los Angeles.
Positivity rate and hospitalizations are both at an all time high. Saturday morning, LA County officials reported there are no more ICU beds for patients requiring critical care, which means those patients are being transported to other triage centers in the state, or makeshift efforts are being constructed to care for those in need. Rationing may well be the next step if conditions worsen.
According to the LA Times, more Californians are dying from COVID now than at any other time in the pandemic. In excess of 1500 people died just in the past week in California. That number represents nearly 7% of the state's 22,000 total COVID deaths since March.
The death tolls for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were 295, 394, 288 and 265 respectively. These were the four deadliest days since the beginning. And they were all in a row over the past week. California is now averaging more than 40,000 COVID cases daily. This is ten times more than what was being reported at Halloween. The death rate from COVID infections is averaging 266 deaths per day -- nearly five times what was being reported at the end of October.
The disease and deaths continue to disproportionately hit elders and people of color. Here are the sad statistics on deaths per day per race:
White: 2 deaths per day per 100,000 residents.
Latinos: 5 deaths per day per 100,000 residents.
Black: 3 deaths per day per 100,000 residents.
Asian: 3 deaths per day per 100,000 residents.
Another worrisome reality continues to be that younger adults are spreading the virus more than any other demographic, but it is the oldest adults, when they get infected, who are dying at the highest rates.
As of Saturday, 1500 health care workers in Los Angeles County have been vaccinated. Officials expect 6000 health care workers will have received the first of the two-shot immunization (Moderna or Pfizer) by Christmas Day. The goal is to reach 10,0000 health care workers by the end of the year.