The percentage of intensive care unit beds available in Southern California was zero percent for the third consecutive day Saturday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
In the three days since the state reported Southern California’s zero percent ICU capacity, the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in Los Angeles County continued to rise, according to data from the CDPH.
The state reported 5,548 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in LA County as of Friday, up from 5,424 patients Thursday and 5,100 patients Wednesday. Including the tally of hospitalized patients suspected of having COVID-19, the tally reported as of Friday totals 5,872 hospitalizations in-county, according to CDPH data.
Currently, more people are hospitalized for COVID-19 in LA County than in any other county in California, according to the state’s dashboard. Orange County has the second-most number of COVID-19 hospitalizations with 1,601 current patients — 3,947 less patients than LA County.
Claremont’s cumulative COVID-19 case rate as of Friday was 2,985 positive cases per 100,000 residents according to the Los Angeles Times, the largest rise in cumulative case rate of the three days ICU availability in the region has been zero percent.
The city’s cumulative case rate as of Thursday was 2,900 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, and the rate as of Wednesday was 2,826 positive cases per 100,000 residents, according to LA County data.
In the past 14 days as of Friday, Claremont had 858 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Regional stay-at-home orders — enacted when a region’s ICU availability dips below 15 percent — remain in place for 98.3 percent of California’s population. As of Saturday, statewide ICU availability is 2 percent, a slight drop from Friday’s 2.1 percent ICU availability.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This article was last updated December 21, 2020 at 7:40 p.m.