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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2020 18:46:10 GMT
Los Angeles is becoming the center of America’s out-of-control coronavirus pandemic in these final days before the new year, with officials warning that a meteoric rise in infections is crushing the healthcare system in one of the country’s largest metropolitan regions. LA county has faced an onslaught of terrifying Covid developments in recent days, including a surge in deaths, dire shortages of hospital resources, and fears that doctors will have to make agonizing choices to ration care. “Do we need to start filming people dying?” said Marcia Santini, a nurse at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), medical center, who is recovering from a brutal Covid-19 infection that forced her to be hospitalized at her own workplace. “People need to understand, there is no place to take care of you. You can’t have this mindset that this isn’t going to happen to you. It doesn’t work like that any more. The virus is rampant.” An uncontrolled ‘viral tsunami’ Heading into the darkest holiday season some have ever endured, there were grim reminders across the LA region that the virus is spreading uncontrolled. The city’s mayor briefed the public while in quarantine after his daughter became infected. Hospitals were setting up triage tents. Residents waited in line for hours for Covid tests at Dodger stadium. The region recently ordered more body bags. Outbreaks were afflicting grocery stores, restaurants, stores, shopping malls, Amazon warehouses, manufacturing plants, government buildings, police and fire departments, jails and prisons and film sets. Officials in LA county estimated that one in 95 residents were currently infectious, and that two residents were dying of Covid every hour. More than 6,000 Covid patients are in the hospital, and intensive care units (ICU) are filled to capacity. And yet the region is continueing to obliterate records. LA is now reporting an average of more than 14,700 cases each day, a 78% increase from two weeks ago, according to LA Times data. Seven hundred people are hospitalized daily; in October there were fewer than 150 daily hospitalizations. By January, officials say it could be 1,400 admissions each day. More than 9,000 people have died. “We’ve moved from having waves to now having a viral tsunami occurring here in Los Angeles,” said Dr Robert Kim-Farley, a medical epidemiologist at UCLA, who said for the first time his family would not gather for the holidays.
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Post by Admin on Jan 13, 2021 19:26:24 GMT
The Happiest Place on Earth is taking a huge step toward ensuring the ongoing safety of its community members as COVID-19 vaccine distributions continue to roll out across the country. Orange County, California, officials announced on Monday that Disneyland Resort, whose parks have been closed to guests since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S. last March, will become the first mass point-of-dispensing (POD) site of vaccinations for the virus, with the ability to administer thousands of vaccines per day starting later this week. "The Disneyland Resort, the largest employer in the heart of Orange County, has stepped up to host the county's first Super POD site — undertaking a monumental task in our vaccination distribution process," said Orange County First District Supervisor Andrew Do in a press release. "We truly appreciate the support of the Orange County Fire Authority, our cities and our residents as we continue to rollout COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the county." In a statement to PEOPLE, Dr. Pamela Hymel, Chief Medical Officer for Disney Parks Experiences and Products, says, "Disneyland Resort is proud to help support Orange County and the City of Anaheim with the use of our parking lot, and we are grateful for all of their efforts to combat COVID-19." "After a year in which so many in our community have faced unprecedented hardship and uncertainty, there is now reason for optimism with the administration of a vaccine," she adds. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Alongside the Disneyland site is Dodger Stadium, which will be phased out from a testing location effective immediately and changed to a mass-vaccination site by the end of the week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's office said in a statement published Monday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 191,861 COVID-19 cases reported in Orange County alone, with 2,120 deaths to date, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. As of Thursday, in neighboring Los Angeles County, officials were recording one coronavirus-related death every eight minutes. "A person now dies every 8 minutes from #COVID19 in LA County," Los Angeles County's verified Twitter account posted on Thursday. "Stay home to save lives, always wear a mask when out for essentials and avoid gathering with people you don't live with."
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Post by Admin on May 5, 2021 19:14:05 GMT
Adam Bergeron is looking forward to reopening the Balboa Theater, the independent movie theater in San Francisco he owns and operates.
He's watched as other movie theaters around the U.S. welcomed audiences back ahead of his. But San Francisco has been slower to reopen than other cities. Now, the time feels right.
"San Francisco’s been a model for doing Covid the right way, if there is such a thing," Bergeron said.
"At this point, everyone I know is completely vaccinated. The cases are going down. And we just chose a time that seemed like it was going to be the right time," he added. He’s planning to reopen May 14 with a "Godzilla" marathon.
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
San Francisco and its suburbs have been cautious, maintaining various restrictions while other parts of the country reopened businesses and eased mask mandates. Meanwhile, its vaccination rate is among the highest of any major U.S. city, with two-thirds of all adults having received at least one dose.
And as parts of the city open up — some San Francisco bars have waitlists to get a table again — experts are offering a cautious optimism. The city may be seeing signs of herd immunity.
"This is our moment to put the pandemic behind us," said Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco's health director. "It's clear that the vaccines are our way out of this."
Herd immunity is about transmission. If enough people can't catch and spread a virus, particularly in a community that already has few cases, the virus struggles to find new hosts. Eventually, infections would naturally taper off. It’s a simple concept, yet it can be elusive and difficult to define — particularly at the national level.
Locally, though, it can be clearer. Over the past seven days, San Francisco, home to more than 870,000 people, recorded an average of only 26 new Covid-19 cases per day. Two-thirds of all adults in San Francisco and almost 60 percent of the greater metro area of 4.7 million have been vaccinated with at least one dose — one of the highest rates in the U.S. Its positive test rate sits at 1.2 percent.
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Post by Admin on May 8, 2021 19:21:30 GMT
U.S. health officials are now projecting a “sharp decline” in COVID-19 cases by July if Americans keep getting vaccinated. A major push for people to get their shots is underway, with officials even going door to door in cities from coast to coast. NBC’s Miguel Almaguer reports for TODAY.
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