Virus death toll hits a new record

People of color, older Californians are hit the hardest

More than 1,500 people in the state died in the last week of COVID- 19.

More Californians are dying of COVID- 19 now than at any other point in the pandemic.

But as ferociously as the coronavirus has spread this autumn, it still continues to stalk certain communities much more than others.

More than 1,500 people lost their lives to COVID- 19 in the last week — a number that represents nearly 7% of the state’s more than 22,000

total coronavirus- related fatalities.

The death tolls seen Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — 295, 394, 288 and 265, respectively — represent the four deadliest days the state has seen throughout the entire pandemic, according to data compiled by The Times.

California on Friday broke a record for most coronavirus cases in a single day with 53,326, topping the high last set Wednesday, when 52,330 cases were reported, according to The Times’ county- by- county survey. The state is now averaging more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week, a new record and 10 times the f igure from Halloween.

The state recorded 265 COVID- 19 deaths Friday, its fourth- largest single- day tally. California is now averaging 226 deaths a day, also a new record, and f ive times the comparable f igure from early November.

Elderly Californians and people of color are being hit disproportionately hard.

L. A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer warned that the weekly death count in skilled nursing facilities is starting to increase, although it hasn’t reached the level seen early in the pandemic.

And, while the death rate among white residents remains stable — at one to two per day per 100,000 residents — the death rates for Latino, Black and Asian residents are rising. Among Latino residents over the last four weeks, for example, the death rate has jumped from 1.4 daily deaths per 100,000 residents to 4.5 daily deaths per 100,000.

Latino communities are at higher risk for several reasons. Members tend to be essential workers who go to retail stores, manufacturing plants and other sites rather than work from home, raising the chance they’ll come in contact with an infected person. Some Latino neighborhoods are more densely populated, making the virus easier to spread.

Among Black residents, the death rate has jumped from less than 1 death per 100,000 residents to more than 3 deaths per 100,000. And among Asian residents, the death rate has risen from 0.5 deaths per 100,000 residents to 3 deaths per 100,000.

California is now tallying an average of 203 COVID- 19 deaths a day over a sevenday period, and 35,200 cases a day — both records, and both quadruple the numbers from mid- November.

Younger adults are spreading the virus the most, officials said, but it’s the oldest adults, when they get infected, who are dying at the highest rates.

In a week of losses, there was some hope. The f irst doses of COVID- 19 vaccine have arrived, and hundreds of thousands more are on the way.

Hundreds of L. A. County healthcare workers have received a dose, and that number was expected to hit 1,500 by the end of Friday and roughly 6,000 by Christmas.

“Our goal is to get to 10,000 workforce vaccinations by the end of the calendar year,” said Dr. Paul Giboney, associate chief medical officer at the L. A. County Department of Health Services.

But widespread inoculation for the public is probably still months away. Given how widespread virus transmission is, officials say it’s vital that residents do all they can to keep safe.

“We need the public to listen to these mitigation strategies to slow the spread or we will completely run out of [ hospital] beds,” Giboney said.

That means wearing masks in public, washing hands regularly and staying home when sick. Perhaps most critically, officials say, people should keep physical distance from, and avoid gathering with, those they don’t live with.

While that last ask could be a bridge too far for pandemic- weary Californians eager to ring in the winter holidays with family and friends, officials say some seeds of today’s virulent surge were planted around Thanksgiving, when too many traveled or got together in defiance of public health warnings.

Making the same choice this time around, officials warn, will only prolong — and potentially worsen — the surge.

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times DR. MICHAEL MATUS checks on a COVID- 19 patient Tuesday at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif. In the last week, the disease has killed more than 1,500 people in California — nearly 7% of the state’s 22,000- plus total COVID- 19 fatalities.

FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times NURSE LIA CHRISTIAN, middle, and Dr. Babak Eshagian, right, work with a patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 9.

FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times A COVID- 19 PATIENT is treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 9. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday represent the three deadliest days California has seen in the pandemic.

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times A NURSE holds a patient’s hand Tuesday at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Health off icials say holiday gatherings will only worsen the virus’ surge.