Coronavirus hospitalizations steadily decline in LA County – Daily News

Authorities announced on Saturday, September 4, that the number of people hospitalized for coronavirus-related symptoms in Los Angeles County fell by more than 50 from the previous day and by more than 150 last week.

The state’s COVID-19 dashboard posted 1,537 people to private or public hospitals on Saturday, 56 fewer than the day before. Friday’s numbers show for the first time since August 11 that daily hospitalizations have fallen below 1,600, an important sign that the recent surge in this outbreak may have leveled off.

According to the database, the number of patients in the intensive care unit also decreased from 453 to 445.

The day after the county public health service revealed that multiple cases of the Mu mutant had been identified here, authorities announced on Saturday 36 new deaths and 2,097 new cases of COVID-19. ..

Authorities have identified 1,416,919 positive cases of COVID-19 in all areas of LA County since the outbreak of the pandemic, killing 25,434 inhabitants.

According to the authorities, the test results of more than 8,201,000 residents are posted, and 16% of the people test positive. The test positive rate on Saturday was 2.8%.

“We wish for healing and peace to family and friends who are sad that their loved ones have been infected with COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the county’s public health department. “Although there was a slight increase in post-vaccination infection during this delta variant surge, vaccination was clearly a game changer by providing extraordinary protection from hospitalization and death of COVID-19.”

In his statement, Feller outlined the main reasons for hope.

– Of the approximately 5.3 million fully vaccinated people in the county, less than 1% are infected with COVID-19.

– Only 0.02% of those who tested positive were hospitalized.When

– Of all fully vaccinated people, death from COVID is “very rare,” she said. With a case fatality rate of 0.0022%.

Nevertheless, public health authorities have vaccinated residents, avoided unnecessary travel, respected county health order guidelines, and spread the virus, including face coverings and social distance in public places. Continued to encourage common sense measures to prevent the virus.

The highly infectious delta mutant of COVID-19 remains the predominant strain of the virus in the county, but as a Mu mutant described by health officials on Friday as being highly infectious and potentially evasive. Confirmed the existence of what is known.

According to the County Public Health Service, 167 Mu variants were detected in the county between June 19 and August 21, most of which were found in July.

The Mu mutant, officially labeled as a “mutant of interest” by the World Health Organization, was first discovered in Colombia in January and subsequently detected in 39 countries. Some initial reviews of the variants have shown that it may circumvent currently available vaccines.

“The identification of variants like Mu, and the spread of variants around the world, highlights the need for LA County residents to continue to take steps to protect themselves and others,” Ferrer said. He said. “This is why it is so important to be vaccinated and protected. These are the growth of COVID-19, which breaks the chain of infection and allows the virus to mutate into more dangerous ones. It’s a limiting action. “

The county continues to offer COVID-19 vaccines on sites throughout the region, many on weekends and evenings. Anyone over the age of 12 who lives or works in LA County can take shots. Many sites also offer a third dose to eligible immunocompromised residents. information: www.VaccinateLACounty.com..