California Sees Record COVID-19 Deaths
Jan 9, 2021, 4:33 PM | Updated: Jan 13, 2023, 8:32 pm
APPLE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 05: A patient lies on a stretcher in a hallway near other patients in the overloaded Emergency Room at Providence St. Mary Medical Center amid a surge in COVID-19 patients in Southern California on January 5, 2021 in Apple Valley, California. California has issued a new directive ordering hospitals with space to accept patients from other hospitals which have run out of ICU beds due to the coronavirus pandemic. The order could result in patients being shipped from Southern California to Northern California as Southern California continues to have zero percent of its remaining ICU (Intensive Care Unit) bed capacity. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES — California health authorities on Saturday reported a record high of 695 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strained under unprecedented caseloads.
The state Department of Public Health said the number raises the state’s death toll since the start of the pandemic to 29,233.
A surge of cases following Halloween and Thanksgiving produced record hospitalizations in California, and now the most seriously ill of those patients are dying in unprecedented numbers.
Already, many hospitals in Los Angeles and other hard-hit areas are struggling to keep up and warned they may need to ration care as intensive care beds dwindle.
