The Los Angeles Department of Public Health confirmed two additional cases of the COVID-19 variant in the United Kingdom, totaling 14 cases in LA County.
The new variant, classified as B.1.1.7, is known to be more contagious than the Wuhan strain of COVID-19. Public health director Barbara Ferrer recommends even more caution with the potential increase in cases due to the newly introduced coronavirus variant. “With the UK variant circulating in the county, we are likely to see more variant cases identified in the county. We must remain diligent with our security measures, even though we see a general reduction in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. We are going to keep our guard high because we know that letting our guard down will lead to more cases and, tragically, more deaths again, ”said Ferrer.
The Department of Public Health also confirmed 136 deaths and 2,393 new cases of coronavirus in LA County. To date, the department has recorded 1,179,063 cases in all areas of LA County, with 19,793 deaths.
There are currently 2,498 hospitalizations in LA County, a 30% decline from 3,426 hospitalized the previous week. Of all current hospitalizations, 30% are in the ICU.
Today’s positivity rate was 3.8%, down 1.5% from last week’s 5.3% rate.
Residents under the age of 50 constitute 64% of new coronavirus cases reported today, with residents aged 18 to 49 years driving the majority of these cases. Residents aged 65 and over represent 71% of reported deaths, although they represent only 15% of new cases.
Daily update of COVID-19:
February 20, 2021
New cases: 2,393 (1,179,063 to date)
New deaths: 136 (19,793 to date)
Current hospitalizations: 2,498 pic.twitter.com/tgLJi3C9BI– LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) February 20, 2021