County has seen 898% increase in cases since surge began in November, with 1,125% increase in deaths, official says

Los Angeles county scientists estimate that one in three residents in the county have been infected with Covid-19 at some point since the beginning of the pandemic, a reflection of how severely the virus has overtaken the most populous region in California.

The new estimate by county scientists would mean that more than 3 million of the county’s 10 million residents have been infected with coronavirus. As of Thursday, Los Angeles county had more than 975,000 total reported cases, with 17,323 new cases in the past 24 hours. Through the course of the pandemic, 13,234 people have died in LA county because of Covid-19, accounting for nearly half of California’s total deaths.

Hospitals are overwhelmed with 22,000 patients as officials warn hospitalizations could reach 30,000 by February

As the coronavirus in California rages out of control, staff in the state’s overwhelmed medical centers are warning they are increasingly struggling to keep up and may need to ration care as intensive care beds dwindle.

Only Arizona tops California in cases per resident and, with nearly 40 million residents, the huge coastal state is seeing staggering caseloads: more than 2.5m confirmed infections.