On Thursday, the LA County public health department reported 148 new covid 19 deaths. This is the second day in a row that the country has reported its highest number of deaths due to covid 19. According to a statement released by the LA County public health department, one person is dying from covid 19 every 10 minutes in LA County. The officials said that many of these deaths are preventable and it is important to put all focus on saving lives.
One Person Dying From Covid 19 Every 10 Minutes In Los Angeles
The total number of hospitalizations reached more than 6500 on Thursday and the shocking thing is that more than 20% of them are in ICU. In the last week, the number of new hospitalizations were up by more than 1600.
Given this situation, the authorities said that it is important for Californians to follow public health guidelines and stay home as much as possible. Apart from that, the authorities also urged the public to wear masks when they go outside as this is the only way to protect ourselves and the community from the pandemic.
According to the State Department of Public Health, the ICU bed capacity is the benchmark for issuing stay and home orders. When the ICU capacity falls below 15%, a stay at home order will be issued by the public health department. In some regions of Southern California, the ICU capacity is at 0%. Considering this situation, the authorities expect that a stay at home order will be extended for the entire state.
Meanwhile, the total number of deaths due to covid 19 crossed 23635 and about 351 deaths were reported on Thursday as per the public health officials. The total number of new cases was more than 39000 on Thursday. California also became the first state to cross more than 2 million covid 19 cases.
The vaccine distribution program has begun all over the US and California is also getting a good share of the vaccines. The front line health workers are at high risk in this situation due to the rising number of cases across the state. Many doctors and medical staff are working for long hours as they are not able to handle the huge inflow of patients. Given this situation, the public health department has said that they are reaching a near breakdown state as they are running out of ICU beds.
A new strain of coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the UK and it has sent shivers across the world. Even the US has decided to impose travel restrictions on passengers coming from the UK to the US. Such passengers will have to undergo covid test and they will be allowed only if they test negative for the infection. Apart from that, such travelers should also follow quarantine rules strictly and use masks in public places. The authorities have said that they would impose a penalty and take strict action for any violations of covid guidelines.
The CDC has also warned that the number of cases might increase by a huge margin after the Christmas holidays. The recent Thanksgiving travel lead to the surge in the number of cases across California. If the public are not taking enough precautions, the pandemic will be out of control for many more weeks in this state. There is a need to strictly follow the stay at home orders and avoid traveling for pleasure. The CDC has indicated that only essential travel should be allowed and some restriction may come in this regard after the Christmas holidays. As per latest data, more than a million people are traveling every day across the country. This is likely to lead to further increase in new coronavirus cases after the holiday.