Amina Khan, and it’s
Friday, Dec. 18. Here’s the latest on what’s happening with the coronavirus, plus ways to spend your weekend and a look at some of the week’s best stories.
A COVID-19 vaccine has been out for less than a week, and the
rich people who want it first are already looking for ways to jump to the front of the line. They’re offering tens of thousands of dollars in cash, making their personal assistants pester doctors daily, and asking whether five-figure donations to a hospital would, in every sense of the phrase, give them a shot, my colleagues Laura J. Nelson and Maya Lau write.
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The December surge in COVID-19 had spread widely into communities across Los Angeles County, touching more lives than ever before and making the chances of being exposed to the virus much more likely than ever.
New daily cases have hit levels that are hard to fathom, including one day this week when more than 20,000 new COVID cases were reported in the county. An estimated one in 80 people in L.A. County are now contagious with the virus; that’s far worse than in late September, when scientists calculated that one in 880 county residents were infectious.
The latest reminder of the spread came Thursday, when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that his 9-year-old daughter Maya had tested positive. Both Garcetti and his wife tested negative, he said.
L.A. County hits record 131 daily COVID-19 deaths, ICUs projected to be overwhelmed soon
Dec. 17, 2020 at 6:00 am
On Dec. 16 L.A. County hit a record 131 daily deaths and reported that only 102 of 2,500 adult ICU beds remain available, with capacities projected to be overwhelmed in the coming weeks.
Officials also reported an all time high of 21,411 new daily cases, although this number was inflated by a backlog of approximately 7,000 cases.
“These are nonetheless extraordinary numbers, and they represent transmission that continues to be out of control,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer in a Dec. 16 public briefing.
There are currently 4,656 people hospitalized with COVID-19, reflecting the consequences of average daily cases counts of 6,300 two weeks ago. With current average daily case counts of over 12,000, County models predict that patients requiring ICU care could surpass the total number of licensed adult ICU beds by 1,000 or more in the next mo
Coronavirus pandemic
Updated
Published
December 16, 2020 6:08 PM
Dr. José Mayorga, Executive Director in family medicine at UCI Medical Center, receives a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the first day shots were available in Orange County. (Chava Sanchez/LAist
Orange County health officials today reported 1,486 patients are hospitalized in the county with COVID-19. That includes 319 ICU patients, a startling increase of more than 100 people in just one day.
Both are new records.
Officials blame the recent surge on gatherings where people are not wearing face coverings.
And that prompted this emotional plea from county health director Dr. Clayton Chau at this week s board of supervisors meeting: Stay home.