Los Angeles Covid Test Positivity Up 50% In 2 Weeks, Hospitalizations Begin To Rise Amid Fears Of “Tripledemic”

deadline.com:

Los Angeles County’s daily Covid case count continued its recent upward trend on Wednesday, with the region tallying 1,662 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.

That’s the highest one-day count since September 7. Furthermore, the 7-day test positivity is now 5.9%, up 51% from 3.9% just before Halloween.

Last week County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer observed that “with recent unusually high levels of flu and other respiratory diseases, there are signs the county could be headed toward a Covid surge this fall and winter.” This week, those signs have become more clear across the board, with not just cases and test positivity up sharply, but hospitalizations — often touted as a lagging indicator — following suit.

Covid-related hospitalizations hit a recent low of 368 on October 25. In under two weeks, that tally has risen to 492 people today.