Coronavirus Numbers Continue Unabated Climb In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach residents continue to test positive for the coronavirus at consistent numbers previously unseen. Twenty-one residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in one day after 13 residents testes positive in the 24-hour prior period.

The number of Manhattan Beach residents who have tested positive to the Novel Coronavirus now number 875, more than double the number at the beginning of November when MB residents testing positive since the beginning of data collection in the pandemic was just 425.

The increasing number of people in Manhattan Beach testing positive for COVID-19 contributed to the closing of the outdoor dining decks in the city, which happened Sunday night on January 3 after a City Council ad hoc committee conducted its own investigation of claims by community members that those using the public outdoor dining decks were holding forth drinking alcohol [alcoholic beverages were prohibited on the public dining decks] and that social distancing, among other concerns, was not happening.

Today's information from Los Angeles County officials says today's daily test positivity rate is 20.4% and that testing results for nearly 4,890,000 individuals shows 17% of people testing positive.

According to a Los Angeles County report, "Because COVID-19 is spreading throughout L.A. County at an alarming acceleration, businesses are reminded they have a duty to protect employees, customers and residents from transmission of COVID-19 as much as possible and implement all safety measures in the business protocols that prevent COVID-19 transmission."

On Monday, Jan. 4, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center reported that the hospital currently has "a patient care expansion tent set up" that would be used based on demand.

As for a refrigerated truck functioning as a morgue? “When California hospitals first developed their surge plans back in March in anticipation of the potential 40% increase in patient volume due to COVID-19, the need to have temporary morgues was necessary," said Andrew Werts, director, communications for Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro.

"This unfortunate reality was a necessity at most California hospitals," he said. "This need was not only for the hospitals, but also to handle the additional pressure put on local mortuaries as well.”