“Today, Tuesday, December 1, 2020, is the worst day thus far of the Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles County,” county health director Barbara Ferrer said today. “However, it will likely not remain the worst day of the pandemic in Los Angeles County. That will be tomorrow, and the next day and the next as cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase.” The numbers validate Ferrer’s grim words.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced the highest number of new Covid-19 cases that the county has ever experienced. Health officials confirmed 7,593 new cases, blowing past the previous high of 6,124 seen last week. It signals that the virus is infecting more people at a faster rate than ever in L.A. County, even as the county is delivering more tests than ever before.

It was unclear from the Health Department statement if the rise being seen is the leading edge of a surge due to Thanksgiving travel and gatherings. Whatever the case, it does not bode well.

On Monday, Ferrer and Dr. Anthony Fauci both warned of “a surge on top of a surge,” meaning that the county’s already record number of cases would be joined by a wave of infections caused by Thanksgiving activities. If the county is seeing the beginning of that surge and it is already this big, the situation is truly as grim as Ferrer suggests.

Also on Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that if the surge continued unabated the state would “take much more dramatic, arguably drastic action.”

“If these trends continue,” said the governor, “the potential for a stay-at-home order for those areas in the Purple…more in line with the stay-at-home order that folks were familiar with at the beginning of the year.”

To put the numbers in some sort of perspective, the County of Los Angeles just reported more daily infections than the entire state of California was reporting daily at the beginning of November.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti wrote on Twitter, “This is as serious as it gets. We must flatten the curve to avoid overwhelming our hospital system.”