LA County Public Health Warns Increasing Levels of COVID-19 Community Infections

The Los Angeles County Public Health Service (Public Health) continues to see significant increases in key indicators such as new daily cases and positive test rates.

Since last week, LA County has experienced over 2,000 new cases almost daily. The average daily number of cases on November 3 was 1,464, and the average daily number of cases on October 3 one month ago was 988.

The test results are available to nearly 3.32 million individuals, with 9% of all positive. The county’s positive test rate, or rate of positive tests, increased from an average of about 3.6% on October 3 to about 5.9% on Thursday.

Public health said in a statement Thursday that after confirming seven new deaths and 2,533 new cases of COVID-19 in the county, “increasing daily cases and test positive rates are serious problems. And there is a lot of evidence of accelerated community infections. ”

As of Friday, there are 942 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of 15% from last Friday, and 28% of these people are in the ICU. The average daily number of patients admitted to COVID-19 on October 3 was 682, the lowest since the pandemic began.

Based on the experience of the surge seen this summer, public health is preparing for the expected increase in hospitalizations and deaths.

On May 28, the county began to increase in number of cases, and the number of cases began to skyrocket. Twenty-one days later, on June 18, hospitalizations began to increase. Twelve days later, the death toll began to increase. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths all peaked within the two weeks of mid-July. After the business reopened from late June to mid-July, the number of cases steadily decreased and reached the lowest level on September 10. It took another three weeks for hospitalization and death to reach the lowest levels after the surge.

Due to widespread community infections, the county’s daily number of cases continues to keep LA County in the state’s most restrictive purple layer with a blueprint for a safer economy. Currently, the county’s adjusted case rate is 7.6 new cases per 100,000. This is a slight increase from the 7.5 adjusted case rate reported last week. The county needs to reduce the daily number of new cases to less than 7 per 100,000 for two consecutive weeks in order to move to the next less restrictive red layer. The county’s overall test positive rate is 3.8%, which meets the orange layer (moderate spread of virus) threshold, and the test positive rate in the county’s least resource-rich areas is only 6.8% to 6.5%. Reduced to the red layer (substantial spread of the virus).

“Unfortunately, due to the recent surge in cases, we expect to stay in Tier 1. [purple tier] Next few weeks. I don’t think this is the place we all expected when heading to fall and winter, “Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement Thursday. “Not only is our recovery journey stalled, but we are also making very difficult choices in front of us towards Thanksgiving and winter vacation. The surge in cases we are experiencing. We haven’t seen the full results of this yet. Although we have made remarkable progress in caring for people infected with the virus, this significant increase in cases can be devastating. Tragic death. ”

As California surpassed a million coronavirus infections on Thursday, Feller urged residents to act and change their behavior to reduce the virus. “We can turn this around and return to slowing the spread. The actions we take today, tomorrow, and next week will have a profound effect on the health and well-being of many in our county. “She said. “If we can’t collectively stop the acceleration of new incidents, we will have to take additional action.”

On Friday, California announced with Washington and Oregon Travel recommendations Encourage residents to stay local and encourage everyone entering the state to self-quarantine for 14 days to slow the spread of the virus.