Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer reported 1,584 new cases of coronavirus on Monday. She said Monday’s numbers are usually lower due to a delay in testing.
On Friday, new daily cases of Los Angeles County coronavirus crossed the 3,000 mark, with a record 3,187 reported. Over the weekend, Los Angeles’ largest COVID testing site appears to have closed without explanation.
When asked about the closure of the Dodger Stadium site, a county official said, “It would be better to direct those questions to the city.”
The site is currently closed according to a report by NBC News and today’s social media accounts.
“Dodger Stadium is closed right now,” said an MSNBC. “When we called the city of Los Angeles, they said this had something to do with staffing levels … However, now we are hearing that this may have something to do with county-level funding and reimbursements.”
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office did not immediately respond when contacted by Deadline about the situation.
The official dating site for the Los Angeles City COVID test does not mention the shutdown.
This occurs after weeks of complaints from residents about the shortage of evidence, including Monday.
On June 24, Garcetti said the city was increasing its testing capacity. The mayor said he is ordering the city to “expand testing to meet demand,” going from 7,700 tests a day last week to 13,600 tests.
“Get out and get tested,” said the mayor at the time. Garcetti did not mention the closure of Dodger Stadium during a media availability Monday morning.
Last week, Garcetti banned fireworks and July 4th gatherings with people outside of the people with whom he lives. County officials took the extraordinary step of re-closing restaurants for dinner and ordering movie theaters to be closed for at least 3 weeks.
Ferrer announced Monday that “nearly 50 percent of new cases happen to young people” under the age of 40. The advantage of this, he said, “is that we have had a decrease in deaths, fortunately, in skilled nursing facilities.”
Ferrer reported 48 additional deaths on Monday. That means there have been 3,534 total COVID-19 deaths in Los Angeles County.
When asked about the fewest deaths recently, Ferrer again referred to the growing number of young people who contract the virus and their generally healthier immune systems.
“We often have a delay in deaths since we started to see an increase in hospitalizations,” Ferrer recalled.
But, Ferrer said, “cases are emerging as a result of the spread of the community” as more people spend more time outside.
At the beginning of last week, the seven-day average of the daily tests positivity rate increased from 5.8 percent two weeks ago to 8.4 percent. On Monday, LA County Health revealed that the seven-day positivity rate was up to 9.5 percent.
While the county announced that it now has the capacity to implement 26,000 tests a day, appointments for Monday were already busy, according to health officials.
