On Sunday, Los Angeles County public health officials reported 7,232 more cases of COVID-19 and 30 related deaths, figures representing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week.
On Friday alone, 3,187 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, the highest daily total since the pandemic began, authorities said.
Indoor bars and dining rooms remain off-limits as officials try to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The number of hospital patients with confirmed coronavirus infections increased 41% in the past three weeks, county data shows. As of Saturday, there were 1,921 people hospitalized in Los Angeles County with confirmed cases of COVID-19; 28% of those people were in the ICU and 18% in ventilators.
Los Angeles County officials warned last week of “alarming increases in cases, positivity and hospitalization rates” and projected the possibility of running out of hospital beds in two to three weeks; The number of ICU beds could run out sometime in July.
LA County has recorded a total of almost 115,000 cases and almost 3,500 deaths.
The beaches were closed by local government officials in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to deter holiday weekend crowds. The warnings appeared to have an effect on residents, as the beaches and parks were sparsely populated on Saturday.
“Thank you to everyone who modified their vacation plans to help us get back to work to curb the spread,” said Barbara Ferrer, county health director, in a statement.
Times Rong-Gong Lin II editor contributed to this report.
