COVID-19 Rates on Apparent Downward Trajectory
On January 21, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) noted that for the past weeks, the seven-day average number of cases was 10,560, a decrease of 30%. New cases were down 7% since Thursday, January 14, 2021. See Release. On January 22, 2021, LADPH noted that “key COVID-19 indicators are trending in the right direction.” As of Friday, test positivity was down 39% for the prior three weeks, to a rate of 12.7%, although still well above the rate of 3.8% on November 1, 2020.
Given the current level of COVID-19 in the region, the County remains in Tier 1 of the State’s Blueprint, along with 54 of the state’s 58 counties, covering approximately 99% of the state’s population.
Hospital Capacity
On January 20, 2021, the L.A. County Department of Health Services (LADHS) announced that “the number of new patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization each day across Los Angeles County, although extremely high, has appeared to have leveled off and [begun] to decrease.” Overall, the number of hospitalizations dropped 7% from the previous week. On January 23, 2021, LADPH announced that hospitalizations had dropped below 7,000 for the first time since December 29, 2020.
However, “the illness severity in hospitalized patients has been very high, with increased needs for intensive care [and] mechanical ventilation, and higher mortality.” Of note, average hospital stays have risen from under seven days in the fall to an average of 9.5 days now, with more time in the ICU and more time on a ventilator per patient on average. In the period September 4–November 3, the rate of death for hospitalized COVID-19 patients was approximately 12%; the rate for the period November 4–present is now 23%. According to LADHS, “These changes—despite improvements in treatments—suggest a substantial increase in the severity of illness among hospitalized patients.” County Director of Health Services Dr. Christina Ghaly acknowledged that the increased severity may indicate that only the most severe patients are being hospitalized, noting that “lower acuity patients” are being discharged at a higher rate.
Vaccinations
Last week, L.A. County began making vaccination appointments available to individuals in Phase 1B, including all individuals over age 65. Eligible individuals can sign up for vaccination appointments here. The County has also confirmed that individuals receiving a first dose at County sites will be scheduled for a second dose at that time.
In addition, the County announced the opening of five large-scale sites, each of which will be able to vaccinate up to 4,000 people per day (pending available supply):
- Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768
- The Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90305
- California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330
- L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey, CA 90242
- Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy., Valencia, CA 91355
As of January 21, 2021, LADPH announced that more than 441,000 doses of vaccine (including more than 352,000 first doses and more than 88,000 second doses) had been administered in the county.