LA County Reports 7,845 New COVID Cases, 39 Deaths Since Saturday

LOS ANGELES COUNTY -- With coronavirus infections continuing their upward trend in Los Angeles County, health officials today reported 7,845 new COVID-19 cases and 39 additional virus-related deaths since Saturday.

Updated virus-related hospitalization data was not immediately available, but the latest state numbers, released Saturday, showed 1,267 people in the hospital, down by 41 from a day earlier. Of those patients, 146 were being treated in intensive care, up from 137 the previous day.

The L.A. County Public Health Department said 1,986 new cases were reported on Monday, along with 2,101 Sunday and 3,758 Saturday.

That total of 7,845 brought the total number of COVID cases in the county since the pandemic began to 3,585,468.

The 39 additional deaths upped the county's pandemic total to 34,334.

According to the health department, nine virus-related deaths were reported Monday, along with 13 Sunday and 17 Saturday.

The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus in the county was 11%, up from 10.7% Sunday but down from Saturday's 11.2%, according to the county.

On Thursday, the county moved from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ``medium'' COVID activity category into the ``high'' category. The move came when the county's average rate of new infections rose to 258 per 100,000 people -- well above the threshold of 200 per 100,000.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the move did not trigger a return to any lockdowns or business closures that were imposed at the height of the pandemic. But she warned that being in the ``high'' category means the virus is rampant in the area, and the odds of being exposed are growing.

She noted that with the current infection rate, there's an 80% to 90% chance that at least one person is infected with the virus at an event or gathering of 200 people.

Ferrer has said the county will re-impose an indoor mask mandate if it remains in the ``high'' category and if the county's virus-related hospitalization numbers reach two thresholds:
-- if the rate of daily hospital admissions tops 10 per 100,000
residents; and
-- if the percent of staffed hospital beds occupied by COVID patients
tops 10%.

The county has already surpassed the first threshold, with the rate of daily hospital admissions already at 14.8 per 100,000 residents as of Thursday. The percent of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients was 6.9% as of Thursday, still below the 10% threshold.

Ferrer said the health department's initial projections showed that the hospital bed percentage would reach 10% by Dec. 20, but she said admission numbers appear to have leveled off in the past three days, meaning it may be longer before the figure reaches 10% -- if at all.

Ferrer said Thursday the county reported an average of 3,800 new infections per day over the previous seven days, a 40% increase from the prior week, when 2,700 new cases per day were reported.

Daily virus-related hospital admissions jumped by 9% over that week, and daily death reports rose from eight per day to 12.

-- City News Service