Hospitals are seeing significantly larger numbers of patients with COVID-19, as Los Angeles County reports 4,353 new cases on Wednesday, Nov. 30., a surge in daily infections from Tuesday, when 2,370 new cases were found.
Health officials have been warning about a possible surge of COVID-19 during the winter months and have repeatedly urged residents to ensure they are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, and to get a flu shot.
“We encourage everyone to get the COVID vaccine or updated booster if eligible, the flu shot, wash hands regularly, consider wearing a mask in crowded indoor areas, and stay home if you’re sick,” wrote Dr. Nancy Gin, Kaiser Permanente regional medical director of quality and clinical analysis. in an email received on Tuesday, Nov. 29..
The rate of daily cases has been steadily rising, but Wednesday’s number was by far the largest single-day total in quite a while. The jump in one day shows the seriousness of the cold-weather surge. Overall official case numbers are believed to be artificially low because residents use at-home tests and do not report the results to the county, and others do not get tested at all.
Hospital officials asked that L.A. County residents stay away from emergency rooms unless necessary.
“ERs are getting overrun with everyone coming in with minor stuff and they are having to wait a long time in the waiting room and are potentially infecting other people,” said Dr. Jorge Vournas, emergency department medical director at Providence Little Company of Mary in Torrance. “We would like to reserve the ER more for people with respiratory distress who can’t breathe or are having breathing difficulties.”
The county has seen rising cases of COVID-19 and rising hospitalization numbers since the start of November, prompting health officials to again “strongly recommend” people wear masks in indoor public settings.
The county saw a sizable increase in its number of COVID-positive hospital patients, which rose by 92 people to 1,132, with 122 in intensive care. In comparison, there were 407 patients hospitalized last month. The statewide total of coronavirus patients jumped to 3,737, an increase of 205 from the previous day’s total.
The county has logged 3,542,744 infections since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Hospitals in Southern California are reporting not only a significant increase in numbers of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 but also flu and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus.
“We have not imposed any restrictions that would impact our ability to deliver care or meet our patients’ needs,” said Gin at Kaiser Permanente. But, she added, “Like many other healthcare providers across the country, Kaiser Permanente is experiencing an increase of patients in need of care due to COVID-19, the flu and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).” RSV mostly occurs in children, causing pediatric wings in hospitals to approach full capacity.
Gin said that despite the rising number of patients at its hospitals in Southern California, the healthcare provider is able to meet the higher demand for patient care.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported 10 additional deaths associated with COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative death toll to 34,187 in Los Angeles County. Officials have said the majority of COVID-related fatalities occur in the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.
Aside from the county’s plea that people wear masks in indoor public settings, masks are still required indoors at health-care and congregate-care facilities, for anyone exposed to the virus in the past 10 days, and at locations where they are required by the operator.
A fully vaccinated person can still contract and transmit COVID, but health officials say the vaccines offer protection against developing severe symptoms that can result in hospitalization and death. People who are vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19 have, on average, about a four-fold lower risk of being hospitalized than those who are unvaccinated, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
SCNG staff writers Clara Harter and Steve Scauzillo contributed to this article.
