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Health Oct 11, 2022
| Image courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Los Angeles County reported more than 3,000 new COVID-19 infections over a four-day period that ended Tuesday, along with 32 additional virus-related deaths.
The county Department of Public Health reported 1,274 new cases Saturday, 792 Sunday, 548 Monday and 462 Tuesday. The county no longer reports COVID numbers on weekends.
The 3,076 new cases lifted the county’s cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,467,319.
Daily case numbers reported by the county have been falling steadily for weeks, although health officials have conceded that the official figures could be misleading due to residents primarily using at-home tests that aren’t reported to the county.
The additional 32 fatalities from the four-day period gave the county an overall virus-related death toll of 33,772.
According to state figures, there were 487 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Tuesday, up slightly from 480 on Saturday, the last day for which figures were available. Of those patients, 51 were being treated in intensive care, down from 59 on Saturday.
County officials have said that roughly 40% of COVID-positive patients were admitted specifically for COVID, while the others were hospitalized for other reasons but tested positive upon admission.
The seven-day average rate of people testing positive for the virus was 4.5% as of Tuesday.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer last week urged residents to take advantage of new COVID-19 booster shots, noting that they are specifically engineered to combat Omicron variants of the virus, which are the most common in circulation. She also noted that protection residents got with the original series of shots is likely waning, raising their risk of infection and more severe illness.
“While the original vaccines do continue to provide significant protection against severe illness and death, it is important to know that these early vaccines may provide less protection against the transmission of the virus,” Ferrer said in a statement Friday. “For the county’s vulnerable residents who are 65 and older, it is especially important to get the new, updated fall booster. Keeping older and more vulnerable residents safe also means testing before gathering indoors and staying away if we are sick. With the cooler weather and fall holidays, many more of us will be staying indoors, gathering with others, or traveling, so it is still practical to follow all health safety measures.”
