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LA has become the latest epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. Our ICUs are full and the sound of sirens has become a constant. Deaths are mounting, and the situation is only expected to get worse.
I wrote about how we got here, with @ronlin : https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-28/why-covid-19-cases-have-spread-wildly-in-l-a
I wrote about how we got here, with @ronlin : https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-28/why-covid-19-cases-have-spread-wildly-in-l-a
Soon, LA could become a disaster zone. If there is yet another wave in a few weeks linked to the Christmas holiday, it “will result in Northern Italy-slash-New York visions of people in hallways,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in an interview. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-28/why-covid-19-cases-have-spread-wildly-in-l-a
LA is uniquely vulnerable to a huge COVID surge. The popular image of L.A. — hillside mansions, urban sprawl and drivers cocooned in their cars — belies the gritty reality.
L.A. County, home to more than 10 million, suffers from high rates of poverty and homelessness and has huge numbers of essential workers.
“There is no city as large and complex as L.A. The closest might be New York. And we saw what happened in New York."
“There is no city as large and complex as L.A. The closest might be New York. And we saw what happened in New York."
Among the 25 biggest metro areas in the US, LA has the highest percentage of overcrowded homes -- perfect for the spread of the coronavirus. Eleven percent of LA homes are considered overcrowded, compared with about 6% in New York and the Bay Area. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-28/why-covid-19-cases-have-spread-wildly-in-l-a
While density measures how many people live in a geographical area, another metric, “crowding,” tracks how many people live in a home. Having more than one person per room, excluding bathrooms, is considered overcrowded.
An analysis published in June in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that the odds of falling sick from the coronavirus were not significantly affected by the poverty rate or density of a person’s neighborhood but clearly increased as overcrowding increased.
Many experts, including our own public health director, said they think LA suffered from a lack of coherent and clear messaging. Officials in the Bay Area often speak with one voice. That is not the case in Southern California.
Within LA itself, division has emerged among officials regarding COVID policies. “As soon as there’s a sense that there’s not unity — that ... also creates a different kind of confusion and, in some cases, has given rise to a lot of defiance,” said Barbara Ferrer.
I often see people on this app saying things like “I guess masks and shutdowns don’t work!” in response to LA’s surge.
Cases are climbing now, but restrictions have helped LA keep its numbers low for months. All experts we spoke to agreed about that.
Cases are climbing now, but restrictions have helped LA keep its numbers low for months. All experts we spoke to agreed about that.
When it comes to cumulative rates of death, 93 of every 100,000 people in L.A. County have died of COVID-19, fewer than the 134 in Illinois, 121 in Arizona and 103 in Florida. If L.A. County were a state, it would rank about 28th in terms of death rate.
