Los Angeles Covid-19 Update: Virus-Related Hospitalizations Top 8,000 For First Time Ever; “Disastrous Increase”

Another week during the coronavirus pandemic, another grim milestone for Los Angeles County.

There was good news and bad news on the LA Covid-19 front on Friday. On the one hand, the key numbers were down virtually across the board. On the other hand, with virus variants worrying officials and the region’s vaccine rollout sputtering, there was concern of another surge.

On Friday afternoon, as the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors met behind closed doors to discuss new, stricter shutdown orders; as Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Governor Gavin Newsom appeared together to try and jumpstart the region’s lagging vaccination efforts; one key reason for the urgency of those efforts became clear.

The morning after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti revealed that the County Board of Supervisors is considering new business closures in case of an increase in Covid-19 numbers, the board was reportedly doing just that behind closed doors on Friday.

As Los Angeles's public health officials are calling the city's current COVID-19 surge — in which 10 people are testing positive for the virus every minute — the "worst disaster our county has experienced in decades," Hollywood's top studios have begun their return to production in L.A.

Covid-19 outbreaks at workplaces have soared dramatically in recent weeks in response to rising community transmission, Los Angeles County health officials said today, warning that employers need to ensure their workers and customers are protected.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorFilm permit applications in the city and county of Los Angeles declined steeply in December, dropping 24.9 percent from November levels to 613 permits. FilmLA reported Tuesday.This is the second straight month that FilmLA has seen permit requests drop, as production levels that picked up after the pandemic shutdown began to drop again.

Austin Beutner, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Monday that students will have to receive the inoculation once it is available before heading back into the classroom, according to a report.   The Los Angeles Times reported that Beutner compared the move to how schools already require vaccinations for measles and mumps.

“This very clearly is the latest surge for the winter holidays and New Year’s.” That was Los Angeles Public Health Chief Science Officer Dr. Paul Simon on Friday. “It’s likely to continue over the next week or two. We do expect these numbers continue to be high over the next couple weeks,” he said.

“The very high numbers I will report today are, sadly, not a surprise,” said Los Angeles Public Health Chief Science Officer Dr. Paul Simon on Friday.

With production stalled in Los Angeles amid the city's latest COVID-19 surge, the industry is wrestling with when it'll be able to return to work safely in one of its most popular filming regions. The major studios and streamers have paused production on the bulk of their L.A.-based projects, most of which were already on a hiatus over the holidays, marking the town's biggest shutdown since March when the virus first began to spread in the U.S.

UPDATED, 6:05 PM: Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda has been released from the hospital where he had been since mid-November. The team reported that the Hall of Famer is “resting comfortably” at his home.

Dr. Dre is hospitalized with a suspected brain aneurysm, a well-positioned medical source tells Deadline tonight. The hip hop legend and Straight Outta Compton producer is in the intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, but his condition is unknown.

On January 30th, Los Angeles County announced it had passed the dark milestone of 10,000 deaths related to Covid-19 in 2020. It was a grim end to a grim year. Now, less than a week later, the county has already passed 11,000 pandemic-related deaths.

Los Angeles County hospitals are so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients that EMS workers were told Monday to ration oxygen, according to reports.  The L.A.

“The anticipated surge from the holiday gatherings has begun,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Monday. While the daily 9142 new cases recorded in the region on Monday was less than half of the record highs seen in recent weeks, Ferrer said the low number reflects the closure of many testing sites and a delay caused but the holiday.

Lionsgate Television is the latest TV studio to keep its Los Angeles-based series dark amid an unprecedented surge in coronavirus infections and Covid-19 deaths in LA County.

Larry King is receiving treatment in a Los Angeles hospital for COVID-19, according to entertainment journalist Roger Friedman's Showbiz411 report on Saturday afternoon. The report indicated that the longtime television host, 87, is in isolation and unable to receive visits from his wife of 23 years, Shawn King — to whom a divorce was initiated in 2019 — or other family members.