DOWNEY — Downey Mayor Claudia M. Frometa is urging residents to help stop the spread of Covid-19 by spending the New Year’s Day holiday at home. 

On Wednesday, Mayor Frometa invited physicians Dr. James T. Lee of Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center and Dr. Yasmeen Shaw of PIH Health Hospital Downey, along with incoming Fire Chief Dan Hurlock, to a video taping at the city’s Emergency Operations Center. 

The short video will be released in time for New Year’s Eve as a call to Downey’s 113,000 residents to rethink their holiday weekend plans. 

With a background in emergency management and disaster response, Mayor Frometa, who has worked in healthcare for the last 15 years, is pleading with Downey residents to stay home and avoid gatherings to help stop the unrelenting spike in infection and hospitalizations crippling area hospitals, including Downey.

From Dec. 9 to Dec. 26, daily hospitalizations increased by 674%.

In LA County, there is one death every 10 minutes due to Covid-19.

Fire Chief Hurlock indicated in the weeks following Thanksgiving, there was an increase in 911 ambulance calls of over 110%; and these were for Covid-19 related patients.

Dr. Shaw, from PIH Downey, wants the community to know this virus is affecting young and old. She has had patients as young as 30 years of age and in relatively good health succumb to the virus. 

“Please do your part and stay home,” she said.

Dr. Lee, a vascular surgeon, indicated the medical and nursing staff is exhausted and they need the community’s help to stop the continuing spike that is pushing all medical centers to the brink.

Dr. Lee’s advice to Downey residents is to only celebrate with members of your immediate family this New Year’s Eve “if you want to celebrate with your extended family and friends in the years to come.”

“Downey, this year without a doubt has been the most trying year for all,” Mayor Frometa said. “There will be better days ahead, I promise you. With the vaccine here and vaccinations underway, we will be turning the corner soon. 

“In the meantime, each one of us holds the key to helping our healthcare heroes. Our hospitals are the lighthouses in our communities and here in Downey, we are fortunate to have three hospitals, two of which are 911 receiving hospitals with emergency departments. We count on them and our physicians and nursing staff to help us heal our bodies when we have broken bones, or cancer, strokes or heart attacks. 

“But now they are on the brink, overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. Let’s not contribute to this crisis and the continued surge. Please avoid gatherings and crowds this holiday weekend. We will see better days in 2021.”