Los Angeles Country recorded 44 new coronavirus deaths Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 9,555, according to the county Health Department.
LA County Director of Public Health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer noted that the county is on its way to a stark milestone.
“[We] could be approaching a total number of 10,000 deaths shortly, which will be the saddest number since the start of the pandemic,” she said at a news conference.
Roughly 13,661 new cases were reported Monday and the county hospitalization rate is now at 6,914, the highest since the pandemic began, according to Ferrer.
“Last week we lost someone due to COVID-19 every 10-15 minutes,” she said.
In the meantime, the county has administered 66,628 doses of the coronavirus vaccine at acute care hospitals and 1,478 doses at skilled nursing facilities as of Dec. 26, according to the Health Department.
-ABC News’ Cammeron Parrish contributed to this report.