LOS ANGELES — With Los Angeles County reporting 3,052 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths Tuesday, health officials are stepping up efforts to combat the virus.

Tuesday marks the fifth consecutive day with more than 3,000 new cases in LA County after months of lower totals.

Walking through the emergency department at Henry Mayo Newhall hospital looks very different for Dr. Bud Lawrence compared to one year ago.

“Last year, at this time, we had a much higher number of very sick patients here in the hospital, and that only grew in the month of January," he said.

The medical director and chairman of the COVID Taskforce said that is when things were at their worst. With 104 COVID patients, it became so crowded that, as Dr. Lawrence explained, they built two new floors to be used as COVID ICUs.

It’s exactly what they’re hoping to prevent this January as we battle yet another new surge in COVID cases and another new variant doctors said they don’t know much about.

"The omicron variant is concerning in the sense that it’s much more transmissible, so that means that more people are going to be getting this virus," Lawrence said. "The question is, how sick does it make you?"

Though she only traveled to the Valley from Cal State Long Beach and already got her booster shot, 21-year-old Ellen Moody is not taking any chances. The college student is home for the holidays and came to the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital to get tested for a peace of mind.

“Just so I know I can keep my family safe, I do want to go out and get some Christmas shopping done and just having that extra precaution is good," she said.

It’s the extra precaution public health officials are urging others to have, too, as holiday travel at LAX approaches pre-pandemic levels.

LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said that to try to slow the spread of omicron, they’ve reinstated another indoor mask mandate and have new requirements for anyone attending indoor or outdoor mega events to be vaccinated or have a negative COVID test.

“We’re gonna need to be cautious. We’re gonna need to use those rapid tests more, so that we just keep each other safe during what is gonna be a time where we can see a lot more transmission of COVID,” she said.

As of Tuesday, 740 people were hospitalized with COVID across the county, 20 of which are at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Dr. Lawrence is pleading with anyone unvaccinated to trust science, fearing that another wave could be the final straw for his mentally and physically exhausted staff.

“It’s almost been like being in war," he said. "It’s been very hard, every day, all day for everyone, and it has been essentially nonstop.”

Leaving us with a sobering reminder of the patients in hospitals with COVID nationwide, Lawrence says about 97% are not vaccinated.