On January 1, Manhattan Beach recorded 26 new cases of COVID-19, the biggest single day-over-day increase in the number of cases in town since the pandemic began.

As of January 1, the total number of reported COVID-19 cases in Manhattan Beach (since the pandemic began) stood at 813. That number was up from 787 on December 31, and 766 on December 31, both representing new highs in the daily increases in number of cases.

There were 273 Manhattan Beach residents diagnosed with COVID-19 between December 1 and January 1, an average of 8.8 new cases per day.

The increase in cases in Manhattan Beach is a small portion of the massive surge in cases throughout Southern California, especially Los Angeles County. 

Across Los Angeles County, there were 20,414 new COVID-19 cases and 207 new deaths reported on January 1. 

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH), younger residents continue to drive increases in community transmission in the county.

At the beginning of the current surge on November 1, there were 463 cases a day among residents between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. By December 22, there were 4,419 cases a day among residents in this age group; an increase of about 950%.

The next group driving increases are young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, according to LACDPH. When the surge began, there were 303 cases a day among adults between the ages of 18 and 29 years old. On December 22, there were 3,072 cases a day; a nearly 1,000% increase.

(Note, however, that the numbers reported for each city such as Manhattan Beach are not broken down by age group.)

The hospitalization rate among people between the ages of 18 to 29 years old has also increased by 350% since November. Even children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old are being impacted - they have experienced a 200% increase in their rate of hospitalizations, according to LACDPH.

Coronavirus patients are overwhelming many Los Angeles County emergency rooms and intensive care units, and hospitals are seeing ripple effects that impact operations and care across the medical network.

Across Southern California, medical and public health personnel are pleading with people not to gather or create opportunities to spread the disease. At the current rate, every ten minutes in Los Angeles County, someone dies of COVID-19.

Earlier this week, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District voted to delay the return of in-person cohorts to allow for those who may have traveled to follow the new quarantine guidelines that had changed over the winter break.