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Los Angeles Is Now Worst-Hit U.S. Metro Area for Covid-19 Cases

Los Angeles Is Now Worst-Hit U.S. Metro Area for Covid-19 Cases

Greater Los Angeles is emerging as America’s hardest hit metropolitan area as Covid-19 sweeps across California like never before.

In the past week, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties have posted 1,415 and 1,102 average daily cases per million residents, respectively, the highest rates among counties of at least a million people, according to USAFacts, a nonprofit aggregator of government statistics that’s used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Riverside County, also part of the Greater Los Angeles area, is the fourth-highest.

The surge in cases has put the focus back on a major American metropolis. While New York was the hardest hit area in the pandemic’s first wave, recent months had been the most brutal for rural areas. Even when cities started getting hit again, the very biggest among them were spared the worst until now.

Los Angeles Is Now Worst-Hit U.S. Metro Area for Covid-19 Cases

New cases, deaths and hospitalizations in the Los Angeles area continue to break records, and health-care officials are warning there’s more to come.

“Our hospitals are under siege and models show no end in sight,” Christina Ghaly, director of Los Angeles County’s department of health services, said at a Wednesday news conference. “The worst is still before us.”

The outbreak is worsening across the state, with California’s health department reporting a record 379 deaths and more than 52,000 new cases on Thursday. Four of the state’s five regions -- representing 98% of the population -- are now under stay-at-home orders after intensive-care capacity fell below a 15% threshold.

Nationally, the U.S. added 247,403 new cases Wednesday, pushing the seven-day average to a record 225,374, according to Johns Hopkins University data. California is a big reason for that, with the surge in America’s most populous state more than offsetting early signs that cases may be leveling off or declining in other regions.

There were a record 3,835 Covid deaths reported Wednesday, Johns Hopkins data showed.

According to Covid Tracking Project data:

  • Three states posted single-day record cases on Wednesday: California, Tennessee and Maine.
  • The number of people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 rose to a record 113,069.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.