LA County COVID-19 Cases Reach One of the Pandemic's Highest Single-Day Totals

More than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Thanksgiving Day in Los Angeles County, marking one of the highest single-day totals of the entire pandemic. 

The county reported 37 additional deaths and 5,087 coronavirus cases in its Thursday update. The number of county residents hospitalized with the coronavirus jumped from 1,682 to 1,809, with 24% of those in intensive care.

The county's cumulative total of coronavirus cases stands at 383,275, with 7,580 fatalities.

Click here to find a coronavirus testing site near you.

The staggering numbers came one day after a much-debated ban on in- person dining took effect, with Los Angeles County health officials painting a dire picture of the current surge, saying the transmission rate has reached its highest point since March and could overwhelm hospitals within a month.

According to current county estimates, every COVID-19 patient in the county is passing the virus to an average of 1.27 people -- the highest transmission rate the county has seen since March, before any safety protocols such as face coverings and social distancing were in place.

Based on that transmission rate, health officials estimate one of every 145 people in the county are now infected with the virus and transmitting it to others.

“This doesn't include people that are currently hospitalized or isolated at home,'' county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said. “This is the estimate of people that are out and about and infecting others. They may not know they're infected. They may know they're infected and not be isolating. But they're out there and they're exposing other people to the virus.”

Ghaly said the number of people hospitalized due to the virus has jumped by 70% in the past two weeks, with the county now averaging about 300 new admissions daily.

“Based on the current estimate for (the virus transmission rate) and assuming that there's no change in people's behavior that would affect transmissions, there will likely be shortages in the number of hospital beds, and especially in ICU beds or intensive-care unit beds, over the next two to four weeks,'' she said.

Ghaly noted that given the current transmission rate, the number of hospitalized patients could double in two weeks, and quadruple in a month. She said hospitals have ``surge'' plans to increase the number of beds, but the availability of health care workers to staff those beds and treat patients is more limited.

County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis outlined other dire numbers -- including a 67% increase in coronavirus outbreaks reported at general worksites in the first two weeks of November and a 200% jump in outbreaks at food facilities in that same period. He said 42 new outbreaks were reported to the county in the past day alone. 

The county's state-adjusted seven-day average testing positivity rate was 7.3% as of Thursday, up from 6.6% Wednesday and 5.3% a week ago. The county was reporting a roughly 3.9% rate at the beginning of November.

Coronavirus Deaths in Your City and State — and Across the US

These charts use daily coronavirus death data from Johns Hopkins University to show the seven-day moving average of deaths at the city, state and country level.

The impact of coronavirus varies enormously in the United States from one place to another.

Source: Johns Hopkins University.
Credit: Visuals by Amy O’Kruk/NBC, data analysis by Ron Campbell/NBC

On Sunday, the county's five-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases topped 4,000, crossing a threshold set the previous week to trigger a closure of in-person dining at county restaurants, which were already limited to outdoor seating. That closure will take effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday and remain in place for three weeks.

The elimination of in-person dining, even on a temporary basis, has business owners fuming. The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday upheld the restriction on a 3-2 vote, sparking an outcry from restaurateurs and others who call it a death knell for small businesses.

The county, meanwhile, could soon be enacting even more stringent restrictions on a wider array of businesses. On Monday, the county's five-day average of new cases topped 4,500, a threshold that was expected to trigger a “targeted Safer At Home order'' that would prohibit all public and private gatherings an impose strict capacity limits at stores.

It was unclear when the county might enact such an order, and despite stressing the urgency of controlling virus transmission, Davis was non-committal on Wednesday about when it would happen. He said health officials were still in discussions with the Board of Supervisors about specifics of the order.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told the board Tuesday that health officials were recommending that the order:

• Prohibit all public and private gatherings of people not in the same household except for outdoor church services and outdoor protests, which will require masks and social distancing.
• Set occupancy limits for outdoor retail businesses at 50% capacity with masks and social distancing required.
• Set occupancy limits for essential indoor retail businesses at 35% capacity with masks and social distancing required.
• Set occupancy limits for non-essential indoor retail businesses at 20% capacity with masks and social distancing required.
• Keep beaches, trails and parks open with masks and social distancing required, except while swimming.
• Permit walking, running, biking and playing outdoors with masks and social distancing.
• Keep outdoor recreational facilities open for members of a single household using masks and social distancing.
• Close pools that are open to more than one household other than for regulated lap swimming.
• Close or keep closed some non-essential businesses, including office-based businesses, card rooms, clubs, bars, lounges, playgrounds other than at child care centers or schools, theaters, spectator performances, sporting events, bowling alleys and arcades.
• Allow child care and day care centers, K-12 schools and day camps, institutions of higher education, libraries, youth sports and spectator-free pro sports to operate largely under current rules.
• nd
• Continue to adhere to the state curfew prohibiting all gatherings with members of other households from 10 a.m. to 5 a.m. other than essential activities, exempting homeless individuals.