The daily number of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County continued to decline on Sunday, raising hopes that the number of new cases will decline as spring approaches and vaccinations increase.
The county reported 1,936 new cases of coronavirus and 82 related deaths, comparatively low numbers that may partly reflect delays in weekend reports, according to the county’s Department of Public Health. More than 1.1 million cases have been reported across the county and 19,000 deaths since the pandemic began, authorities.
Still, the daily case count over the past week – an average of less than 3,500 new infections per day – shows a dramatic decline since the pandemic peak in early January, when the average number of new daily cases reached 15,100.
The daily number of new infections, although declining, remained higher than in October, when the county reported less than 1,000 new cases per day, according to the health department. The number of infections and related deaths has increased in the past three months, which the authorities largely attribute to consecutive holidays.
Although the peak of the outbreak may have passed, LA city officials have recently struggled to secure enough vaccine supplies to keep vaccination sites open.
Five vaccination posts that were scheduled to close Friday due to a shortage of supplies, closed instead on Thursday. The venues included Dodger Stadium, Crenshaw Christian Center and other establishments in San Fernando, Lincoln Park and Hansen Dam.
Regular delivery of vaccine doses fell to 16,000 last week, a sharp drop from the 90,000 doses received the previous week, officials said. The lack of vaccine supplies has frustrated local officials, who say they have the organization and staff to vaccinate many more people.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said the locations will reopen as soon as the city receives more supplies, but probably not before the President’s Day holiday. Garcetti said last week that a shortage of vaccines is “a huge obstacle in our race” to inoculate local residents.
“We are vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles,” said the mayor, “and I am very concerned now.”