By Jorge Casuso

March 30, 2022 -- COVID-related deaths have risen dramatically in Santa Monica since the number of Omicron cases reached a record peak in early January, according to an analysis of LA County Health data by The Lookout.

In the 11 weeks between November 21 and January 9 -- when cases reached a weekly record of 1,902 -- there were 4,997 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the beach city.

While that number was slightly higher than the 4,785 cases over the subsequent 11 weeks ending on Sunday, the number of deaths has jumped from six to 35.

And even as cases tumbled from the early January peak, deaths have persisted, continuing to hold steady at an average of more than three per week.

That compares to a four-month stretch in late spring and summer last year when no virus-related deaths were reported in the city of some 93,000 residents.

There were a total of 191 COVID-19 cases confirmed in Santa Monica over the past two weeks -- a slight increase over the 178 reported over the previous two weeks.

An additional 42 cases and two virus-related deaths were reported on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 16,874 and deaths to 235.

Deaths typically take about two weeks to be reported.

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, there have been a total of 2,832,706 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County and 31,655 virus-related deaths since the virus began spreading two years ago.

Of the total deaths, Latinos have accounted for 15,442, Whites for 7,437 deaths, Asians for 3,747 and Blacks have accounted for 2,770 deaths.

In Los Angeles County -- which has a population of more than 10 million -- 8,071,555 residents, or 78.7 percent, had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine as of Tuesday.

By comparison, Santa Monica's vaccination rate was 92.1 percent.

As of Tuesday, 321 patients with COVID were hospitalized in the County, which has approximately 17,000 licensed non-ICU beds and 2,500 licensed ICU beds in 70 designated 9-1-1 receiving hospitals.