The county of Los Angeles this weekend exceeded 1 million cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and reported its first case of the most contagious variant that was initially discovered in the UK last year.
On Saturday, the county recorded more than 14,000 cases and about 253 deaths and 7,597 hospitalizations, according to statistics from the country’s public health department.
The numbers push Los Angeles to the best county in the country in terms of COVID-19 cases, totaling more than the next two counties, Cook and Maricopa, combined.
Although California is among the strictest states in the country in implementing restrictions, it has continued to see an increase in cases over the past two weeks, with an average of more than 41,000 new coronavirus cases per day
The LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner shows members of the National Guard assisting in processing COVID-19 deaths and placing them in temporary storage at the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office in Los Angeles, Los Angeles.
(LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner via AP)
While California has the second highest number of deaths in the country, the state ranks 39th in the number of deaths per capita at 81.8.
The gloomy forecast contrasted with an optimistic press conference held on Friday by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Gavin Newsom at Dodger Stadium, which is being converted into a vaccination center capable of delivering 12,000 doses a day .
California received more than 3.5 million doses of the vaccine and administered just over 1 million doses. Newsom said the state was on track to exceed its goal of distributing about 1.5 million doses by Friday.
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The governor tried to illuminate encouraging trends: hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and positivity rates – the percentage of people tested who have the virus – have declined in the past seven days.
Fox News contacted Governor Newsom’s press office with a request for comment, but received no response at the time of publication.
The governor’s message on Friday contrasted sharply with his warning earlier last month that strict blocking measures would be enacted regionally when the ICU bed capacity falls below the 15% mark. Days later, Los Angeles County received new blocking orders.
Meanwhile, the county’s public health department confirmed the first case of the COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, in an individual who recently spent time in Los Angeles County.
Although it was the first confirmed case of the variant in the county, public health officials believe it is probably already spreading in the community and are continuing to test samples.
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The Department of Public Health reiterated the basic safety guidelines COVID-19 in preventing the spread of variant B.1.1.7, which are said to spread more quickly than other variants, but not necessarily cause more serious illness or increased risk of death
Louis Casiano and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.