Health Officials On Edge As Coronavirus Cases Spike Dramatically

I WAS THERE: Inside A COVID-19 ICU

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Painting a dire picture of upward spikes in coronavirus cases and spread, Los Angeles County health officials said today without a dramatic reversal in public behavior to control the virus “we will see a lot more deaths'' and possibly run short of hospital beds in a matter of weeks.

The latest statistics compiled by local health officials estimate that on average, one in every 140 people in Los Angeles County is infected with COVID-19 and capable of spreading it to others, likely without having any symptoms or even knowing they are carrying the virus.

That figure is up dramatically from last week, when the estimate was one in every 400 people.

“What this means is that Angelenos in the activities of daily living when they go out are very likely to be in the locations or near persons who are currently infectious, and in fact a large typical store is likely to have multiple infectious persons enter the shop every day,'' Dr. Roger Lewis, who

leads the county's statistical modeling efforts, said.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county's health services director, noted the “stark change'' in hospitalizations over the past week, with more than 1,700 people currently hospitalized, up from about 1,300 at the beginning of June.

She said if that trend continues, the county could quickly run out of intensive-care unit beds, forcing hospitals to adjust operations and create additional ICU space.

She noted that given the 14-day incubation period of the virus, even if the spread stopped immediately, uncounted numbers of people have already been infected and will impact the health system in the coming weeks.

“The rising patient volume in our hospitals will likely fill all of the intensive care unit beds that are currently available,'' she said.

Lewis said the problem will go beyond just ICU beds.

“The expected increase in hospitalizations, assuming the increase in (transmission rates) continues ... suggest that we are at risk of running out of hospital beds if we don't take steps to increase that capacity within the next two to three weeks,'' Lewis said.

He stressed that many of the people who will need those beds in coming

weeks “are people who have already been exposed.''

The warnings came on a day the county announced a daily record 2,903 new cases of the coronavirus, pushing the total over the six-figure mark, reaching 100,772. The county also announced another 22 deaths, bringing the countywide total to 3,326.

With test results now available for more than 1 million individuals, 9% are testing positive in the county. The seven-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased from 5.8% two weeks ago to 8.4% as of Monday.

Some officials have attributed the rise in overall cases to increases in testing, but county officials said repeatedly in recent days that the metrics clearly demonstrate an increase in community spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Health officials said Friday that cases affecting younger people between 18 and 40 have jumped by 42% over the past two weeks, making that age group the driving factor in the increases.

Health officials pointed to a variety of issues leading to the spike in cases, noting increasing numbers of people visiting restaurants, bars, beaches and stores, and also attending mass protests against police brutality, and visiting relatives and friends.

County public health director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged the problem of quarantine fatigue, and conceded that residents are anxious to get back to normal life and may see the reopening of businesses as a sign the virus is disappearing -- leading to a lack of social distancing and a failure to wear face coverings.

Ferrer said that problem played out over the past two weeks, saying that during the weekend of June 20, roughly 500,000 people visited bars and nightlife spots.

Responding to that surge, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday ordered all bars closed in Los Angeles County. Ferrer noted that Los Angeles County enacted an amended local health order within hours of that announcement, a hint that the county was already preparing to make such a move before Newsom's proclamation.

Ferrer said restaurants and bars continue to struggle with fully adhering to all of the safety protocols for operating. She said of the establishments visited by inspectors over the weekend, 49% of bars and 33% of restaurants were failing to meet physical distancing requirements. She said 54% of bars and 44% of restaurants were violating the requirement that workers wear face masks and shields.

Overall, 83% of restaurants were found to be in violation of some aspect of the operating guidelines, as were 65% of retail stores.

“I think we are a little bit discouraged, you know, three weeks out (from) the restaurants reopening for in-person dining we still have almost half of our restaurants not in compliance,'' she said. “… We've seen examples of overcrowding at our beaches and some of our public spaces and again noticed that people are not wearing their face coverings and not physical distancing.''

She also said she's gotten an ``explosion'' of new outbreaks in workplaces that are being operated without health protocols.

“And we've had numerous examples of outbreaks happening because families are getting together with extended family members and friends to celebrate weddings, things that they have postponed, and again have created higher risk and there was transmission,'' Ferrer said.

Given that current coronavirus case numbers reflect transmission that occurred over the past two to four weeks, Ferrer said officials were not dismissing the mass protests against police brutality as a contributing factor in the spike in cases, but said “that alone would not explain the increase.''

“I appreciate that there's no one place to lay any blame and we're absolutely not trying to do that, particularly because there are many businesses that have opened and they've adhered to every single protocol that's in place, and they're doing their very best to offer safety to employees and

customers,'' Ferrer said. “… These are high-risk settings and there are lots of people out and about in these settings.''

She said restaurants, retail businesses and residents all have to work together to stem the rising tide of cases.

“We will see a lot more deaths if we can't turn this around, so we do need everyone's help,'' she said.

She said residents need to take serious the call to leave home only for essentials, avoid contact with people outside their own household, wear face coverings and practice social distancing.

“At this point, if you're not part of the solution to slowing the spread, you're ending up being part of the problem,'' Ferrer said.

Ferrer said the latest dire statistics have led to a “tenuous moment'' in the pandemic, and with the Fourth of July holiday weekend approaching, people need to avoid the temptation to act as if the coronavirus is gone.

“This is going to be a different summer,'' she said. “This is going to be a different July Fourth.''

She stopped short of saying the county might order a closure of beaches to prevent large gatherings, but said conversations are being held with beach-city mayors.

“We'll be working with all of our partners to make the decisions'' to keep residents safe, she said.

The city of South Gate, beginning what could be a trend that unfolds over the course of the week, announced Monday that the city will close all of its city parks on Saturday to prevent large-scale gatherings that could contribute to virus spread.