Public health officials in Los Angeles County reported 1,192 new cases of COVID-19 and nine related deaths on Sunday, but said both numbers were artificially low due to a report of a weekend delay.
LA County has reported totals of more than 222,000 cases and more than 5,240 deaths.
The latest issues of the case did not include a wait-and-see delay of lab reports the province expected the state to send more than a week through its electronic reporting system. The backlog was generated by a series of data errors that resulted in hundreds of thousands of test results not being uploaded to the system. It is unclear how many of the unreported results were from LA County and whether they will change the picture of how the virus continues here. Numbers of deaths and hospitalizations were not affected by the reporting problem, officials said.
There were 1,341 confirmed COVID-19 patients in LA County hospitals as of Saturday, with about 32% in intensive care, according to the state. By mid-July, there were about 2,200 patients.
Officials continued to warn people to take good precautionary measures, especially as a heat wave hit the area.
“Because there are so many people infected with COVID-19 and spreading it who have no symptoms, and we ourselves can become infected and unknowingly spread the virus, each of us must make sure we do everything we can to prevent others not in our households, ”said Barbara Ferrer, the province’s director of health, in a statement. “With the warm weather, this can be challenging because we are looking to go places that offer relief from the heat.”
Still, she said, officials continue to demand that people stay home as much as possible and leave only to carry out essential activities such as working and getting groceries and medicines.
‘When going to the beach or the park, make sure you keep at least six feet away from those you do not live in, always wear face masks when you are out of the house, avoid crowded places and wash yourself hands often, ‘she said. “We need to work together to lower our business rate so we can get our kids back to school and get more people back to work.”
Meanwhile, Orange County reported 342 new cases of COVID-19 and one death Sunday, bringing the total to 43,709 cases and 810 deaths.
Hospital stays continued there as well, with 422 confirmed patients as of Saturday, compared to 554 two Saturdays ago.
