On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released new data on Covid-19, reporting 40 new deaths and 839 new positive cases.
Although Public Health claims that hospitalizations have dropped to less than 600, the reported case and death numbers may reflect delays in the weekend’s notification.
The department’s data brings the county of LA to a total of 23,274 deaths and 1,221,605 confirmed cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations drop to less than 600 in Los Angeles County. 40 new deaths and 839 new positive cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Los Angeles County. See https://t.co/DjSCS9YX42 for more. pic.twitter.com/i2IeGF0rE0
– LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) April 3, 2021
At the time of the report, 596 LA County residents are hospitalized with Covid-19, 27% of whom are in the ICU. The number of daily hospitalizations in LA is now similar to that seen in March 2020, with the 3-day average being 627.
Eight of the new deaths today were from individuals over 80, with 20 people between the ages of 65 and 79 lost to the virus. Seven people who died were between 50 and 64 years old, three died between 30 and 49 years old and one between 18 and 29 years old. Of the reported deaths, one came from the city of Long Beach.
To date, the test results have been made available to more than 6,134,334,000 individuals, with 19% of the tests positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 1.3%.
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Public Health also continues to monitor cases of multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in the county. A serious inflammatory disease associated with Covid-19 that affects children under 21, MIS-C caused the death of a child in LA County, while affecting 158 in total. All children with MIS-C were hospitalized, with 40% being treated in the ICU. 73% of the reported cases of the disease involve Latin / Latinx children.
Today, Director of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer, noted that “the decline in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is a very encouraging trend.”
Ferrer added: “We will continue to make progress by reducing transmission, preventing suffering and saving lives when we all do our part to keep ourselves safe, following the rules and being vaccinated when it is our turn.
Currently, Covid-19 vaccines are available to all Los Angeles residents between the ages of 50 and 64, along with other eligible groups. From April 15, vaccines will be available to all residents aged 16 and over.
On Monday, LA County will enter the orange level of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Orange County, meanwhile, will enter the less restrictive level on Wednesday, March 31.
When LA turns orange, shops, religious temples, museums, zoos and aquariums will have an internal capacity of 50%. Likewise, cinemas and restaurants will have an internal capacity of 50%, or 200 people – whichever is less. In the meantime, gyms, gyms and yoga studios will increase capacity to 25%. The bars will reopen, but only for outdoor activities, with masking and social detachment applied – and the breweries will have a capacity of 25%, or 100 people, whichever is less. Outdoor sports and live performances will have a 33% capacity, with theme parks at 25%.
On April 15, Covid-19 restrictions will ease further, allowing large parties, events and receptions to take place again in Los Angeles County.