Los Angeles County reported one of its lowest daily totals of new coronavirus cases on Friday, but attributed the drop to delays in state test results, indicating that a higher number is likely to result in the next few years. days as the delay is removed.
The county reported 1,949 new cases, down from daily reports from last week that added 2,000 or more cases to the total. The City of Long Beach announced 143 new cases on Friday, while Pasadena added 35. The new cases brought the county-wide total for the entire pandemic to 168,935.
The county Department of Public Health also reported 44 other deaths from COVID-19, although Pasadena reported one of those deaths Thursday. Pasadena and Long Beach have their own health departments.
The new deaths brought the county’s total to 4,300.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in area hospitals, at 1,928, was also dipped into statistics on Friday. County officials said there were a total of 2,470 confirmed and suspected cases in hospitals, but emphasized that both figures are incomplete due to “changes in the reporting requirements of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.”
Hospitalizations have been an area of concern in recent weeks, with the number exceeding 2,200 in Los Angeles County over the past five days, the highest levels of the pandemic. The total does not include hospitalizations in Long Beach and Pasadena.
Health officials have noted this week that the number of new hospitalizations in Los Angeles County appears to be stabilizing, and possibly even declining, after a precipitous rise in mid-July.
County health official Dr. Muntu Davis told reporters on Thursday that those figures, along with the seven-day average daily positivity rate of the tests being set back to around 8.5%, they were indications that the county may be beginning to decrease the virus.
“I hope this week marks a turning point and that we begin to see the results of our collective actions to curb the spread of COVID-19,” Davis said.
But despite those positive indicators, Davis and public health director Barbara Ferrer emphasized that the area is a long way from conquering the virus and being able to lift health restrictions.
“Even with incomplete data on cases and hospitalizations, we are seeing too much community spread of this virus, which means that many of our friends, family and neighbors are sick and suffering,” Ferrer said in a statement on Friday. Weekend, I hope we all understand that continuing our recovery journey, including the reopening of schools and businesses, is only possible if we curb the spread again. Wear a face covering, don’t meet with people you don’t live with and stay home as much as possible. The health of our community really is a collective effort. ”
Two Los Angeles-area hospitals received additional help from staff on Friday courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, which deployed medical teams across the state, including one at the Los Angeles County Medical Center-USC and another at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California secretary of Health and Human Services, said a total of eight teams were deployed across the state.
“We look at the entire state,” said Ghaly. “Los Angeles County, with large hospitals, major centers where we see high disease transmission, the concern of ensuring that hospitals in that major center receive support, received two out of eight of the teams. A kind of proportional participation, if You want it, statewide, but remember that some of the other teams went to the northern parts, even to rural areas of the state, to make sure hospitals get support.
“We will continue to work with our federal partners to ensure staff can be moved to strategic locations throughout the state when necessary,” he said.
Ghaly said the goal is to ensure that “patients get the level of care they need and that staffing doesn’t become the problem of providing high-quality care across the state.”
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