Los Angeles County - the largest county in the country - reports 35% spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations since November

• Over 3,100 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, public health officials said Tuesday.
• The number of people hospitalized has risen by nearly 1,000 in just over a week.
• "Right now, too many people in our community are infected with COVID-19, and it is irresponsible and dangerous for people or businesses to flaunt the essential measures that protect everyone from transmitting or acquiring the virus," said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in Los Angeles County.

Never have so many people been hospitalized with COVID-19 in America's most populous county, Los Angeles public health officials announced Tuesday.

Over 3,100 people are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, with just a quarter of them in intensive care. That's nearly 1,000 more people hospitalized than there were at the end of last month, a rise of 35%.

Several hospitals in the county are close to running out of space in their intensive-care units, the Associated Press reported.

The county, home to some 10 million people, this week also reported its 8,000th death from the coronavirus, with 64 deaths reported on Tuesday.

Since the pandemic began, nearly 4 million Los Angeles residents have been screened for COVID-19, with more than 1 in 10 testing positive.

Over 1,700 healthcare workers contracted the disease over the seven days, double the number of cases reported the week before.

"Right now, too many people in our community are infected with COVID-19 and it is irresponsible and dangerous for people or businesses to flaunt the essential measures that protect everyone from transmitting or acquiring the virus," Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in Los Angele County, said in a press release. "The way out of this may seem difficult, but the steps are simple, and those who disregard these safety measures are only delaying our recovery journey."

Public health officials recently moved to reinstate prohibitions on both indoor and outdoor dining as part of an effort to arrest the latest surge in infection. On Tuesday, a state judge ordered those officials to revisit the closures later this month and conduct a risk-benefit analysis of the measure, which was challenged by California's restaurant lobby, the Los Angeles Times reported.

To offset the economic pain of lost work, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently unveiled an effort to provide one-time $800 payments to thousands of low-income workers in the food service industry.

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