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SCREEN CAPTURE / KTLA The COVID ward of a Los Angeles hospital. |
About two people an hour are dying from the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, according to media reports. There are zero ICU beds available in Southern California.
A coalition of labor, health experts and community organizations is demanding that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors urgently enact a "circuit breaker" — a strict 4-week lockdown in January to bring the virus under control.
“Hospitals across LA County are bringing in mobile morgues because they know what's coming unless we act decisively," said Dr. Sue Chang, a pathologist with the City of Hope. "As a physician, my priority is saving lives and keeping people healthy. I have done all that I can. I'm looking at the Board is Supervisors and asking if they have done all that they can, or if they plan to continue making the false choice between saving lives and saving jobs.”
Even though there is hope that the new vaccines will help stem the tide of COVID-19 cases sweeping across the nation that has seen an excess of 310,000 deaths and 317,000 million infections, (as of Dec. 17) there is still a need to practice safety measures to halt its spread.
Across the county, there have been 566,005 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 8,568 deaths, both numbers which are continually rising.
At a press briefing Wednesday, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said there were 4,656 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 21% of whom were in the ICU. On average, she said, every hour two people in LA. County are dying from the COVID-19.
“We’re experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge,” Ferrer said. “These are extraordinary, extraordinary numbers and they represent transmission that continues to be out of control.”
In a letter to the Board, the coalition called for "bold action and leadership" to institute a "circuit breaker" in L.A. County in order to lower cases to relieve the pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers, allow state and local health agencies to strengthen the testing and tracing system, and allow the system to work better to prevent future surges in viral transmission. The circuit-breaker, the coalition explained, is a limited-time measure that includes curfews and the closure of all nonessential businesses with safety nets in place for businesses to stay closed and workers to stay safe at home.
The victims of the deadly virus are overwhelmingly essential workers, poor people, and people of color. Asian Americans who become infected with COVID-19 are over four times as likely to die compared to other Angelenos, cites the letter. Latinos in Los Angeles are dying of COVID-19 at twice the rate of white people. One in three Black Americans personally know someone who has died of COVID-19. Residents of high poverty areas are dying at nearly twice the rate of wealthier residents.
“As the lead team of Kanlungan.net, a digital memorial for healthcare workers of Philippine ancestry who continue to perish from the virus, we know full well the relentless loss and grief roiling through our families and communities," added Ninotchka Rosca, AF3IRM and Kanlungan.net.
"We are offended by the half-hearted “'lockdowns' which, without adequate financial support, make staying at home a matter of privilege rather than a pandemic necessity. We call for a genuine lockdown now,” said Rosca.
The first known death from COVID-19 in L.A. County was a Filipino and surveys by the National Nurses Union has found that a third of healthcare workers who have died from the virus are of Filipino descent.
With LA County contributing over $710 billion GDP to the U.S. economy, the county has the financial power to provide the necessary safety nets to businesses, workers, and families directly impacted by closures, cite's the coalition's letter. The coalition is also pushing the Board of Supervisors to demand urgent state and federal funds for safety nets to allow businesses to stay closed and workers to stay safe at home.
Los Angeles County is the largest governmental body in California — and is also leading the state in cases and deaths. The case rate in Los Angeles is nearly four times that of San Francisco’s. This shows clearly that this is not just a failure of leadership at the federal level, as our local leaders like to claim.
It is just not Los Angeles being impacted by the virus. With the largest population in the nation, the state also has the most COVID-19 cases and number of deaths caused by the coronavirus. Except for the rural parts of Northern California, available ICU beds are below 15% in most of the state. In some, such as Marin County, there are zero beds available.
As the coronavirus made its way to the U.S. earlier this year, it looked as though California was going to be spared the epidemic that was devastating the Eastern Seaboard -- New York, in particular -- because California was the first state to implement stay-at-home and social distancing measures. But when the weather warmed, and residents weary from the safety measures, Southern Californians were the first to hit the beaches, the restrictions were loosened. Under pressure from businesses, Newsome complied. The state never recovered.
"This pandemic is disproportionately taking the lives of those in our Black, Latino, Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities – many of whom are essential workers in our hospitals,” said Ninez Ponce, a Filipino American professor with the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“We have reached a crossroads where only decisive measures can prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. A time-limited ‘circuit breaker’ can reverse the tide of the epidemic, bring the number of cases down by breaking the chain of infection, and reduce pressure on our healthcare system," said Ponce.
