Stay up to date with more coronavirus sources and the latest news
UPDATE OF SUNDAY: August 9, 2020
Health officials in Los Angeles County confirmed 10 additional deaths and 1,789 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday. The latest figures do not include a backlog of the state that was recently disclosed. These overdue numbers are expected to be added to the total in the coming days. The virus continues to affect the province’s younger residents, with 69% of new cases reported occurring Sunday in people younger than 50.
UPDATE OF SATURDAY: August 8, 2020
Los Angeles County Health officials confirmed 51 additional deaths and 2,645 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
The province’s total death toll stands at 206,761 cases and 4,967 deaths.
Officials said that while the latest figures are high, hospitalizations continue to decline. There were 1,610 confirmed COVID-19 hospital patients; 31% are confirmed cases in the ICU.
UPDATE FROM FRIDAY: 7 AUGUST 2020
Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Friday confirmed an additional 53 deaths and 3,116 new COVID-19 cases.
Officials noted that reported case numbers may not be accurately reflected as a glitch, leading to a backlog of between 250,000 and 300,000 unprocessed health records in California, many of them test results.
The problem is fixed, but processing the backlog is expected to take 24 to 48 hours, officials say.
However, other important indicators that track the status of the province’s coronavirus, such as hospitalizations and deaths, are not affected by the reporting problem.
There are currently 1,680 hospitalized individuals with the virus, which officials say shows a declining trend in the number of daily hospitalizations. These figures are compared to last week, when the province reported more than 2,000 hospitalizations per day.
UPDATE OF THURSDAY: August 6, 2020
The city of Los Angeles is working to add more small test sites throughout the city. Mayor Eric Garcetti says the latest attempt is a collaboration with test company Curative to add small kiosks to local neighborhoods, which will make the testing experience almost like using an automatic vending machine. The company is currently running a test program with kiosks in Berkeley. Another plan to add testing will be via mobile vans that will drive the city to provide testing services.
Meanwhile, LA County has passed the milestone of 200,000 cases and is close to 5,000 dead. The province reported 3,290 new cases on Thursday and 48 new deaths. Some of these new cases are the result of a backlog of results from one lab. Nearly 1.86 million people have been tested in LA County with a 10% positivity rate.
The province has opened thousands of investigations into businesses and others that violate health protocols and closure orders, and acted to close 27 bars and restaurants, as well as 76 other businesses such as nail salons and gyms.
UPDATE OF WEDNESDAY: August 5, 2020
Disturbed by reports of a large party at a house in the hills, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new measure designed to break down private homes and other locations that violated health orders.
If a major party is being held at a home or business in violation of health orders, the Department of Water and Street will authorize it to shut down utilities at the property, Garcetti said.
The shutdown will take place after police check that a large, illegal party is being held. The shutdown process can take up to 48 hours.
“These big house parties have become essentially nightclubs in the hills,” Garcetti said.
Garcetti specified the assignments were not intended to direct small meetings in houses.
“These are aimed at the people who are determined to break the rules, and pose important public dangers and a threat to all of us,” Garcetti said.
The mayor made the announcement because he also said that more than 1 million coronavirus tests have been performed in the city of Los Angeles, and 1.8 million in the province. The positivity rate on those tests is about 10% in the province and 7.1% in the city. Overall, he said, the city has seen a decline in cases and hospitalizations since the peak of July.
Tuesday UPDATE: August 4, 2020
The LA County COVID-19 case report has been underreported due to a technical issue, but the issue does not affect hospitalization data, which county officials said continues to reduce it.
A team is now working on contacting 81 labs to get coronavirus test results from July 26 until today to get the exact number of positive cases in that time period. Officials said they are implementing a lab system to report positive test results to the department “immediately” to ensure an accurate count and help track contacts.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s top health official, said Tuesday that a technical problem has caused a lag in California’s count of coronavirus test results.
“This issue underscores the County’s positive cases and affects the number of COVID-19 cases reported each day and our efforts for contact persons,” said a statement from the LA County Department of Public Health.
Officials have added the lag should not delay lab results for patients, as test results are reported directly to providers and hospitals.
“Public health has been experiencing problems with the State Electronic lab reporting system for about two weeks,” the province said. “Once the data reporting issues are fixed, the number of cases is expected to increase.”
Hospitalization data have not been affected by the technical problem, county officials said. Confirmed cases in the hospital are at 1,757, and 31% of those are in the ICU. Last week, daily hospitalizations last week saw more than 2,000 patients.
“Hospital admissions data for Los Angeles County show a further decline, and we remain cautiously optimistic that our efforts over the past few weeks may begin to slow down,” said Health Director Barbara Ferrer in a statement.
UPDATE OF MONDAY: August 3, 2020
After a disruptive rise in coronavirus cases in mid-July, LA County is starting to see numbers go down a bit, officials said Monday. The county’s overall business percentage is even higher than it was at the beginning of July and still high enough to stay on the state watch list – but it’s not as bad as it was about two weeks ago, said county county director Dr. Barbara Ferrer.
The province began July with an average of about 2,300 new cases per day, she said. That number rose to well over 3,000 cases per day in mid-July. But when the month ended, the average dropped to about 2,500 cases per day. Ferrer said that is an indicator that business closures and mask maintenance measures are helping to limit the spread.
Based on the province’s population, the business rate is around 355 per 100,000 people – a drop from last week, when it was 400 per 100,000. But to get off the state’s watch list, the number will have to go below 100 cases per 100,000, she said.
“We still have a ways to go to reduce community transmission,” Ferrer said.
UPDATE OF SUNDAY: August 2, 2020
Los Angeles police are doing their bit to slow down the spread of coronavirus, and will be handing out face masks on Hollywood Boulevard Sunday morning.
The police department says this is an opportunity for officers to inform the public about the importance of wearing a face mask.
A handful of other local cities have fines in place for anyone who does not wear a mask.
And on Sunday, health officials reported 23 additional deaths due to the coronavirus and 1,476 new cases in Los Angeles County. So far, officials have confirmed a total of 192,167 positive cases and a total of 4,692 deaths.
Meanwhile, in an effort to increase COVID-19 testing, the city of Los Angeles has deployed pop-up testing centers in the city, including a new one outside the William Mead Homes near Chinatown.
Community members can visit these sites from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a free trial.
The Chinatown test site was promoted by LA City Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents a section of LA that has been particularly hard hit by the virus.
RELATED: LA County July updates are available here.
Copyright © 2020 KABC-TV. All rights reserved.
.
