Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations continue to rise in Los Angeles County


LOS ANGELES (KABC) – Los Angeles County continues to see an alarming increase in coronavirus hospitalizations.

Authorities reported a 41% jump in the past three weeks.

At the same time, the number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU increased 35% in the past two weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The county Department of Public Health issued a memo on Saturday stating that if this trajectory continues, the number of ICU beds in the county would likely become inadequate in the near future.

Meanwhile, county health officials are expected to resume daily coronavirus updates on Monday after a break over the holiday weekend to implement improvements to their data-processing systems.

County Public Health Department officials said improvements are starting earlier than expected, but that there is no reason to question the accuracy of the previously released data, Jesus Ruiz, spokesman for the COVID-19 Emergency Operations Center told Ruiz. County. Friday.

As of Thursday, the last day new figures were released, an additional 55 deaths from the coronavirus were reported, along with 2,204 recently confirmed cases – it was the fifth day in a row that new cases exceeded 2,000.

RELATED: Los Angeles COVID-19 Update: Health Officials Confirm More Than 2,000 Cases for the 5th Consecutive Day

County health officials reported that 1,893 people were hospitalized in the county as of Thursday. That figure excludes patients in Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments.

The figure has risen slightly from 1,889 on Wednesday, and continues an upward trend that started last week, when the number was closer to 1,300. It also echoes state figures, with Governor Gavin Newsom announcing Thursday that hospitalizations across the state have increased by 56% in the past two weeks.

Total county coronavirus totals through Friday were 107,792 cases and 3,457 deaths.

The overall percentage of people who tested positive for the virus in the county remained at approximately 9%. County health officials said Wednesday that the daily average of positive tests in the past seven days was 8.4%, compared to 5.8% two weeks ago.

Newsom said positivity rates also continued to rise across the state, with a daily average for the past 14 days of up to 6.3%, representing an increase of about 37% in the past two weeks. The state’s seven-day average daily positivity rate was 6.9% as of Thursday, Newsom said.

RELATED: Governor Newsom Warns Californians to Follow New Health Orders Before July 4

Los Angeles County officials issued a revised health order Wednesday to meet the requirements previously announced by Newsom. The Governor ordered the closure of many indoor business operations, in particular by eliminating restaurant dining service. Indoor activities in museums, zoos, aquariums and game rooms were also banned.

Those restrictions will be in place for at least three weeks, Newsom said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2020 KABC-TV. All rights reserved.

.