LA County reaches record level of hospitalizations
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer updated residents on the jump in coronavirus cases and said that hospitals have seen a huge jump in numbers.
There are currently 5,709 currently hospitalized for COVID-19, which is the highest number of patients since the pandemic began, according to the health data. Roughly 21% of patients are in the Intensive Care Unit and 15% are on ventilators, Ferrer said.
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She added that from Nov. 9 to Dec. 17, the average daily hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 increased by 481%.
"If we don’t change how we’re going to celebrate the winter holidays, we’ll experience a surge, on top of a surge, on top of a surge," Ferrer said.
The county recorded 56 new deaths, 11,271 new cases and has a 14% cumulative positivity rate.
-ABC News' Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.