Los Angeles is the first county in the United States that reached 1 million COVID-19 infections on Saturday since the pandemic began.

Los Angeles County
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In an aerial view from a drone, vehicles line up at a COVID-19 testing site at Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles Reaches 1 Million COVID-19 Infections

The number of COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County continues to swell. As of Saturday, county health officials confirmed that COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles have already reached 1 million. This means that Los Angeles is the first county in the U.S. to reach 1 million COVID-19 cases.

According to NBC News, public health officials also confirmed that one person who tested positive for the virus got infected with the new variant. The man spent time in Los Angeles and is now quarantining in Oregon.

Public health officials also believed that the new variant is already spreading in the community and they continue to test samples of those who recently tested positive for the virus.

The new variant of COVID-19 that was first detected in the United Kingdom is said to be more transmissible, according to experts.

Read also: CDC Projects Nearly 92,000 Americans to Die From COVID-19 in Next Three Weeks

On Saturday, public health officials reported that 1,003,923 confirmed Covid-19 infections and 13,741 deaths. It can be remembered that public health officials warned earlier this week that the real number of COVID-19 cases in the county could be much higher.

Officials said that 1 in every 3 residents in the county have been infected since the pandemic began. However, public health officials could not yet determine if the new cases of COVID-19 in the county are due to the new variant that was first detected in the United Kingdom.

COVID-19 Cases Overwhelmed Healthcare System in Los Angeles

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, L.A. county's public health director, said in a statement "The presence of the U.K. variant in Los Angeles County is troubling, as our healthcare system is already severely strained with more than 7,500 people currently hospitalized."

She also added that the community's surge of COVID-19 infections was first observed during winter. It leads to huge numbers of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Dr. Ferrer also asserted that these are five times higher than what the county experienced during summer.

Due to the drastic increase of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles, Dr. Ferrer said this week that officials would consider tightening restrictions for businesses, schools, and even other activities if the current winter surge continues to escalate.

Public Health Officials Raised Concern Over the New Variant

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that B117, the new COVID-19 variant, could become a dominant strain in March, according to a recently published article in Latin Post. This report raised concern to public health officials.

Read also: CDC Warns More Infectious New COVID-19 Variant Could Become Dominant Strain in March

The new variant or B117 has already been detected in neighboring San Bernardino County and San Diego. Even though there is no enough evidence yet to prove that the new variant causes a more severe symptom, but the speed of its transmission will lead to more cases.

The authors in a study that focuses on the presence and impact of the new variant wrote that it is "exacerbating the burden on an already strained health care system, and resulting in more deaths."