The number of coronavirus patients in the hospital continued to spike in Los Angeles County on Saturday, July 31, rising from 1,008 on Friday to 1,071, according to state figures. The number of those patients in intensive care dropped by one to 231.
The new figures came one day after county officials reported 3,606 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single-day report since early February. Friday’s 3,606 new infections brought the county’s overall total from throughout the pandemic to 1,297,032. Another five deaths were reported, giving the county a cumulative COVID death toll of 24,676, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 6.3% as of Friday, up from the 5.17% rate reported Thursday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Ferrer said Thursday the rise seen in recent weeks in the positivity rate and new case numbers was showing signs of slowing, offering some hope the surge may be leveling off. She said hospitalizations are expected to continue rising, since that number traditionally increases following rises in overall case numbers.
The county has been experiencing sharp increases in daily case numbers, hospitalizations and test-positivity rates over the past several weeks, with the increases attributed to the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
As expected with the surge in COVID cases among the general public, the county’s homeless population has also seen a sharp increase in infections in recent weeks. For the week that ended Sunday, 111 new cases were confirmed among the homeless, up 21% from the previous week.
Throughout the pandemic, 7,588 COVID cases have been reported among the homeless, and 216 have died.
“Given the high rate of community transmission in our county, our vaccination efforts remain critically important to reducing the impact of rising infection on our residents, including people experiencing homelessness who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19,” Ferrer said Friday. “If you already had COVID-19 and recovered, you should still get vaccinated. There are severe health risks associated with COVID and re-infection is possible, particularly from variants of the virus.
“And if you haven’t received your second shot of a two-dose vaccine, you aren’t getting maximum protection against COVID-19,” she said. “All of the emerging data on the Delta variant indicates that the vaccines do not provide significant protection unless you have received both doses, so please go get your second dose this weekend.”
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