The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee will be holding a national online meeting at 12 p.m. CST (1 p.m. EST) this Saturday, January 9, titled, “Stop in-person learning until the pandemic is contained!” We urge all educators, parents, students and workers who wish to join the struggle to close schools and nonessential businesses to register today and invite your coworkers and friends.
The state of California recorded its highest number of new COVID-19 cases on Monday at 74,000. Statewide, 96 new daily cases are now being recorded per 100,000 residents, 50 percent greater than the national average of 64 cases per 100,000, giving California the second-highest such figure in the nation, trailing only Arizona’s 112.
The most severe outbreak in the state has occurred in the Los Angeles metro area, which has become the national and global epicenter of the pandemic. As of Wednesday evening, 11,382 Angelinos have died thus far while 852,165 cases have been officially reported in a region of nearly 11 million people.
Over the past week, Los Angeles County has averaged roughly 13,800 cases and 183 deaths per day, among the county’s highest average daily death tolls. Since Christmas alone, at least 2,044 deaths have been recorded in the county.
As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County was hospitalizing 8,098 COVID-19 patients while 1,620 were in intensive care. Los Angeles now has zero percent ICU capacity, with ambulances waiting up to eight hours to offload patients, oftentimes until a bed becomes available due to another patient’s death.
Los Angeles hospitals are now openly being given directives as to which patients should be treated and which should be allowed to die. Ambulance workers have been told not to transport patients who have little to no chance of survival. Hospitals and ambulances have also been ordered to ration oxygen as supplies run critically low. Oxygen is only to be administered to patients with blood oxygen levels below 90 percent even though levels below 95 percent are considered to be below normal and CONTINUE READING: California governor pressures schools to reopen as health care system nears collapse - World Socialist Web Site
