COVID-19 hospitalizations in LA County are starting to level off but at really high levels and another surge is expected soon.
There are still more than 8,000 people with COVID-19 in LA County hospitals, which are struggling to deal with the sustained flood of patients.
And officials are bracing for another surge in hospitalizations when people who got infected over the holidays start getting sick.
We're already seeing a post-holiday surge in cases.
Close to 20,000 were reported yesterday - among the highest one-day totals of the pandemic.
"COVID-19 is now everywhere and infecting more people than ever," the LA Mayor says.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti notes about one in five people tested countywide is coming up positive. In the city, it's one in four.
The county's now reporting well over 200 COVID-related deaths a day.
"I'm on the phone every single day with the families who have lost their bread winners, their parents, their children. We continue to see more people, who don't have underlying conditions, dying from this," Garcetti says.
In response to the growing death toll in LA County, the state's Office of Emergency Services has announced plans to set up a temporary morgue next to coroner's office.