Despite Omicron L A sees far fewer critically ill patients compared to

Despite an unprecedented spike in cases fueled by the Omicron variant, Los Angeles County hospitals are seeing far fewer critically ill coronavirus-positive patients than they did last winter. Officials emphasize that the healthcare system still faces serious challenges because so many people are being infected, and it’s unclear how close the Omicron wave is to peaking. L. A. County ambulance services and hospitals also are contending with coronavirus-related staffing shortages as more of their workers become infected. But the early data seem to reflect the experience elsewhere — that Omicron, while far more transmissible than the previously dominant Delta variant, also tends to cause less severe symptoms, especially in those who have been vaccinated and boosted. This week marked the one-year anniversary of the most difficult period of the pandemic locally, when the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in L. County soared to its all-time high: 8, 098, on Jan. 5. The number of people in intensive care peaked at 1, 731 three days later, at a time when hospital morgues were overflowing. As of Thursday, there were 2, 902 coronavirus-positive patients in L. County hospitals, including 391 in intensive care. And while coronavirus-positive hospital admissions are still trending upward, there are other signs that the Omicron wave will look different from those that came before. The overall number of people admitted into hospitals in L. County for all reasons — COVID and otherwise — has actually remained stable recently. During last winter’s surge, more than 16, 000 people were hospitalized for all reasons. This winter, that figure has been hovering around 13, 000, according to data presented by county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.“Now, this can change, obviously. Hospitalizations are a lagging indicator. And as cases go up, shortly afterwards, we start seeing the increases in hospitalizations, ” Ferrer said during a briefing Thursday. “But I do want to note that [this winter] we haven’t seen the same rise we saw at the beginning of the winter surge last year. ”And, even though the number of hospitalized patients testing positive for the coronavirus has risen quickly recently, COVID-19 patients are still occupying a relatively low percentage of the county’s intensive care beds. Currently, about 7% of L. County’s total staffed ICU beds are taken up by COVID-19 patients. During the summer Delta wave, 15% of ICU beds were used by COVID patients, and last winter, that share was more than 50%. In addition, many coronavirus-positive patients are seeking hospital care for non-COVID reasons, such as for a hip replacement, heart surgery or cancer treatment, Ferrer said, and their coronavirus diagnoses were confirmed only because hospitals require incoming patients to be tested. All data is taken from the source: http://latimes.com Article Link: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-07/fewer-coronavirus-positive-people-are-severely-ill-in-l-a-county #patients #newsweather #newstodayupdate #newsworld #bbcnewsworld #newsworldnow #

الفئة