California has officially surpassed New York in COVID-19 death counts, with Los Angeles County leading the charge.
While the state of California continues to struggle in its battle against the coronavirus, Los Angeles County has been steadily improving.
California recently surpassed New York as the state with the most covid-related deaths. The new death count is 45,007, with 18,630 of them being in the L.A. County. 514 people lost their lives to the virus on Tuesday alone.
L.A. County is currently a Tier 1 county, meaning the danger is widespread. The case-per-day rate for a county to be considered widespread is 7 new cases per day per 100,000 people. L.A. County is currently averaging 34 cases per day per 100,000 people. Numerous non-essential businesses are closed and citizens are advised to stay inside to avoid further spread of the virus.
In total, L.A. County accounts for approximately 29% of coronavirus cases in the state of California. However, L.A. County’s COVID-19 cases are slowly decreasing in number.
California reached its peak COVID-19 case count on Jan. 12, with 45,868 new cases and 43,444 deaths in just one day. Since then, L.A. County has experienced an 80% decrease in new cases.
Variants of the coronavirus are also emerging in California. Two cases of the mutation of COVID-19 from South Africa were reported on Wednesday. On top of that, eight cases of the United Kingdom variant have also been reported. While it is possible that the current vaccines may combat these mutations, there are no guarantees at the moment.
Despite these unfortunate developments, L.A. County is slowly recovering from this winter’s surge in cases. While new cases and deaths continue to emerge, the rates at which both are appearing have decreased over the last week.
The statewide death count is tragic, but it is also not a true reflection of the cases per capita in California. The Los Angeles Times reports that there are only 114 deaths out of 100,000 residents. This ranks California at 32nd in deaths per-capita out of all 50 states.
The recent decline in cases and lower deaths-per-capita ranking can be attributed to recent vaccinations. A report last updated on Feb. 4 revealed that 1,051,229 doses, or 82% of the doses, of the COVID-19 vaccine, have been administered. This includes the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which is required by citizens to be taken 21 days after they take their first dose.
Currently, second doses are being regulated, but continue to be administered. ABC reported that second doses would only be administered from Tuesday through Sunday this week. This announcement comes in light of a shortage of the vaccine. Priority will be given to citizens who must receive their first dose of the vaccine.
No stay at home orders are currently being enforced for the entire state of California. Instead, Governor Gavin Newson decided to have rules and regulations in each county depending on the threat the coronavirus poses to it. The varying degrees of danger are categorized by four different tiers.
Medical professionals are concerned that the Super Bowl may cause another surge in cases. The big game, which aired on Sunday, is typically a large event that many citizens get together for. The potential exposure of the virus to friends and strangers alike has caused a sense of worry among the essential workers currently battling COVID-19. So far, no significant increases have been found, as the daily case count continues to decline.
Daily updates on the coronavirus, vaccinations and stay-at-home orders can be found on the L.A. County COVID-19 media page.