Los Angeles Covid-19 Update: Workplace Outbreaks Soar Dramatically As Health Officials Warn, “We Have a Problem”

January was officially the deadliest month of the Covid-19 pandemic in L.A. County, accounting for 41% of the total number of deaths from the virus to date.

As many Angelenos are struggling to understand if they qualify for a Covid-19 vaccine — and then struggling to get one — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti received his first dose on January 21.

Two days after California Governor Gavin Newsom suddenly announced he was rescinding his Regional Stay-at-Home Order, deaths statewide and in L.A. County remained at near-record levels.

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.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is reminding County residents that “the most important action for everyone to take to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives is to stay home and not mingle with others not in your household.”

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.

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.

“The rate of new cases this month is translating into a disastrous increase in the number of people with severe COVID-19 symptoms being sent to our local hospitals,” said a statement from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department on Wednesday.

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.

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.