REDDING, Calif. - January was Shasta County’s deadliest month with more than 60 COVID-19 deaths. 

The spike in cases led to a surge in hospitalizations and deaths. Public health said this has become an unfortunate predictable pattern.

“In January we're seeing the results of that increase in cases both from the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas holiday,” said Kerri Schuette, the public information officer for the Shasta Health and Human Services Agency.

In December, Shasta County reported 28 COVID-19 deaths. Shasta County Public Health said the 64 deaths are a result of the holiday surge from gatherings around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

RELATED: Shasta County sees COVID-19 death spike in January

“We had a spike in cases, then we had an increase in hospitalizations, and then an increase in deaths,” said Schuette. “It's a very predictable pattern, unfortunately.”

The COVID-19 death toll is shocking to some.

“That's crazy,” said James Britt of Redding. “I didn't know that many people could die that quick over just the virus.”

As cases go up, Shasta County continues to track down COVID-19 cases through its contact tracing process.

“The purpose of contact tracing is to quickly identify cases,” said Schuette.

SIGN UP: Receive email updates on the Coronavirus pandemic 

People in the community are still taking extra precautions to prevent the virus from spreading.

“It does scare me but it scares me into the direction of doing what's needed,” said Jackie Morganfield of Shasta County. “We have to be extremely careful with making sure that we have our face masks and as much distancing as possible.”

Shasta County Public Health said most of the COVID-19 related deaths are from older adult groups. The youngest COVID-19 deaths in Shasta County have been two people in their 30's.