Los Angeles County appears to be making progress amid the COVID-19 pandemic with case rates and hospitalizations steadily declining, but health officials said because community transmission is still widespread it’s best for residents to watch this Sunday’s Super Bowl at home.
“For the moment we are headed in a positive direction bringing down our cases and the last thing we need right now are any super-spreader events that set us back and potentially could lead to more cases, more serious illness and more tragic deaths,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said at a news conference Monday. “A party can infect too many people who then carry the virus to others at their workplaces and in their homes, and in just two to three weeks we see our cases go back up.”
On Monday health officials reported 4,223 new COVID-19 cases and 85 more deaths. The seven day average number of daily new cases peaked on Jan. 8 with more than 15,000 average cases, but that number has since dropped about 67%. Ferrer said that while the average number of daily new cases are reducing, the numbers are still very high.
“Last September there were less than 1,000 new positive infections a day, which is a number that gives the county a much better chance at limiting outbreaks and keeping overall transmission low,” she said.
The county is also reporting a decline in COVID-19 deaths, which are down about 33% since the beginning of January. Health officials said it’s important to note that decrease is small when compared to the 1,400% increase in deaths the county experienced during the December surge that led into January.
“We are still living through this nightmare of this surge. Last week, on average, 217 people died each day from COVID-19, and two days last week we reported that more than 300 people died each day,” Ferrer said. “Now is the time to remain super vigilant against this deadly virus and stay home as much as possible.”
There are 5,398 patients in the hospital with coronavirus as of Monday, 27% of whom are being treated in the intensive care unit. Hospitalizations peaked in early January with 8,056 COVID-19 patients, but as of Jan. 29 the daily hospitalizations decreased 30%.
While the county is “headed in the right direction,” health officials said there is still more to be done before hospitals are no longer overcrowded and health care workers are not spread so thin.
“Please continue to do everything you can to minimize community spread and keep our hospital resources available to for those who need that level of care,” Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said.
In the meantime, vaccination efforts continue to grow slowly throughout the county due to limited supply. As of last week, L.A. County received 991,375 COVID-19 vaccine doses and nearly 800,000 were administered.
“The biggest challenge remains not having enough vaccine for all those eligible to be vaccinated,” Ferrer added. “We are hopeful that by March, there’s increased production and supply across the the county, the state and L.A.”
Countywide, 16,854 people have died from the virus and a total of 1,120,895 infections have been reported.