Amid continually high COVID-19 case rates in Los Angeles County, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital has seen a spike in hospitalizations.
From Monday to Tuesday, the hospital reported an increase of nine patients hospitalized with COVID-19 for a total of 29, according to Henry Mayo spokesman Patrick Moody.
“We strongly encourage all those eligible for COVID-19 vaccination to get vaccinated, and all those eligible for a booster shot to get the booster,” Moody said.
Countywide, L.A. County Department of Public Health officials reported rising hospitalizations Tuesday, with hospitalizations reportedly increasing by 30% since last Tuesday.
“With high rates of transmission, unfortunately, even those who are vaccinated can become infected and infect others. And while the hope is that Omicron symptoms are milder, the current rise in hospitalizations is a cause for concern,” Public Health officials said in a prepared statement.
Most alarming is the increase in test positivity, with positive tests climbing to more than 14%, which has more than tripled since mid-December, indicating surging transmission across the county, per Public Health.
“While we all wish that 2022 would begin without the continued tragedy of serious illness and death associated with COVID, we are instead facing the prospect of an alarming surge that requires every person to act with intentionality: get vaccinated and boosted, get tested, and please, always wear a mask around others. These are the tools we have to try to keep each other safe over the holidays,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in the statement.
COVID-19 testing has become a hot commodity, with demands putting a considerable strain on every health care system in Southern California, according to Kaiser Permanente.
“Kaiser Permanente is working diligently to meet the needs of our members and the community, but with the rising number of COVID cases due to the Omicron variant and so many people wanting to test before holiday gatherings, some people are unfortunately experiencing long wait times,” a Tuesday statement by the health care provider read. “We will continue to flex our resources to meet this moment, and we encourage our members to seek our testing whenever it is available.”
All COVID-19 services are free to L.A. County residents and can be accessed by anyone regardless of insurance or immigration status. To find a COVID-19 vaccine site near you, visit VaccinateLACounty.com, or to find a testing site, visit covid19.lacounty.gov/testing.
Public Health officials also released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Tuesday:
Countywide COVID-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours: 9,473
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,632,893
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours: 22
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 27,576
Hospitalizations countywide: 966
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Dec. 28: 29, with 1,710 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 233, 180 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 42,208
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV as of Dec. 27: 373
Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the city of Santa Clarita as of Dec. 23: 78.6%*
Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the SCV as of Dec. 23: 75.1%*
*These figures now include all eligible Los Angeles County residents ages 5 and older.
