LA County reports 1,339 new cases of coronavirus and 27 deaths. Nationwide

LOS ANGELES-Los Angeles County public health officials reported 1,339 new cases of coronavirus and 27 deaths associated with them on Saturday, although hospitalization continued to decline.

The county currently records a total of 239,828 cases of the virus and 5,763 associated deaths.

As of Friday, the county hospital had 1,089 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 32% receiving intensive care. Officials said hospitalization had fallen about 50% since mid-July when it reached 2,200.

Still, the county will have to slow its transmission rates significantly in order for more businesses to resume and resume operations. On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new four-tier system that requires counties to show consistent success in stopping coronavirus infections before allowing companies more flexibility to resume.

Los Angeles and most other counties in Southern California fall into the most restrictive category, Tier 1. This means that viral infections are widespread and most non-essential businesses need to be closed. To move to the less restrictive tier, counties must have no more than 7 new cases per 100,000 people per day and no more than 8% of test positives. The county must meet these criteria for two consecutive weeks before proceeding.

According to the state, LA County reported an average of 12.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and a test positive rate of 5% per 100,000 inhabitants in the week leading up to August 18.

“In order to reduce the spread of the virus and move to Tier 2, we need to reduce the infection rate to 7 cases per 100,000 people a day,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the County Health Department. It was

“Evidence became very clear seven months before the pandemic, and to see a few cases, we all need to work together to ensure that they don’t get infected with each other. Wear wraps and avoid crowds and crowded spaces. Test us for illness or exposure, and follow sensible public health directives at all workplaces.”

With the announcement of the new four-tier system, the state revised its list of permitted activities in counties classified as Tier 1 to include indoor services at barber shops, hairdressers, and shopping malls. However, it has not yet been permitted to resume these operations at the order of the LA County Local Health Officer.

Public health officials at Orange County said hair salons and barbers could reopen on Monday.

The county, also located in Tier 1 of the state’s new system, reported 19 new deaths on Saturday with 408 new infections, with a total of 48,190 and 975 deaths.

According to the state, in the week leading up to August 18, Orange County recorded an average of 6 new cases per 100,000 people per day and a positive rate of 5.2%.

Last Sunday, the county was removed from the state’s coronavirus surveillance list. This has previously determined where businesses can resume. But when Newsom announced the new system, the county was still on the list for two weeks, as it was still required for additional resumption.

Authorities are now deciding how long the state’s new benchmarks must meet before Orange County can move to Tier 2 and resume more activities, including face-to-face instruction in schools. I’m trying

OC Healthcare Agency tweeted on Saturday that “the state re: school asked for additional explanation because there were several counties, including # OC, because it had reopened the previous 14-day cycle halfway through.” “The states have shown that they get credit for those days. More to come.”

———

(C) 2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

—————

Photo (contact 312-222-4194 for image help): CORONAVIRUS-LACOUNTY

Copyright 2020 Tribune Content Agency.