LA county reports huge spike in daily COVID cases

Los Angeles County has experienced almost double the amount of positive COVID-19 cases since last week.
AP

Daily COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County have nearly doubled in the past week with over 16,000 infections reported Wednesday, health officials said.

Cases jumped 91 percent in that time span from 8,633 to 16,510, with an increase in positivity rate from 8.7 percent to 17.6 percent, according to the LA County Department of Public Health.

People wait in their cars for a drive-through COVID-19 test site in Los Angeles on Dec. 23, 2021.

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Public health officials argue the Omicron variant has hit Los Angeles County hard amid the holidays.

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Twenty-five new deaths were reported in the county on Wednesday.

Officials said the new case tally is one the highest daily counts of the pandemic – and blamed the rise on the surge in Omicron cases.

Los Angeles County recorded only 25 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.

AP

Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 positivity rate has ballooned to 17.6 percent.

AP

People wait amid rainy weather for free COVID-19 testing outside the Lincoln Park Recreation Center in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 23, 2021.

AP

Hospitalizations in the county have also jumped 30 percent, from 770 to 1,069, over the last week, the government data shows.

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Public health officials urged county residents to downsize their New Year’s Eve plans as a result of the surge.