Los Angeles is badly hit by a post-Thanksgiving wave Covid-19 caseslike Americans gather across the country Christmas despite health warnings.
The city has seen a four-fold increase in the number of cases, with patients in Los Angeles County dying at the rate of one every ten minutes.
The news comes when millions of Americans show no signs that they will monitor health officials and ring in the new year safe, and the number of coronavirus cases in the US is pushing doctors and nurses to their limits.
More than 7 million people authorized the Transportation Security Administration for flights from US airports in the week before Christmas, reports Michael George of CBS News.
The number is less than half the number of travelers in 2019, but is still higher than Thanksgiving travel volume, the previous record since the start of the pandemic.
“If what happened during the winter holidays is completely the same as what happened or even half of what happened during the Thanksgiving holiday, we are in big trouble,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Officer.
Dr. Stephen Patterson, who works at a hospital in nearby Riverside, said the increase in the number of cases also saw a significant change in patient demographics.
“We are still seeing a large number of those individuals who are part of our vulnerable populations – the elderly, those with chronic diseases,” said Patterson. “But we also see people in their twenties and thirties and early forties.”
While new vaccines have shown promise in the fight against the pandemic, Patterson urged Americans to think about their daily actions and their effects.
‘Think about those decisions you make -‘ Shall I take my mask off here, or will I decide that I would like to eat out here ‘, and things like that, which could increase the risk that you yourself could bring that that you could take it to a loved one, ”he said.