Another 882 COVID-19 infections were reported by Los Angeles County Wednesday, along with 15 more virus-related deaths.
The new cases lifted the county’s cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,705,624.
Daily case numbers released by the county are undercounts of actual virus activity in the county, due to people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, and others who don’t test at all.
With 15 new virus-related fatalities, the county’s death toll rose to 35,704. A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said.
The seven-day average rate of people testing positive for the virus was 6.2% as of Wednesday, roughly steady from the past week.
According to state figures, there were 633 COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals as of Wednesday, down from 648 on Tuesday. Of those patients, 80 were being treated in intensive care units, up from 75 a day earlier.
Some of the patients were initially hospitalized for other reasons and learned later they had COVID.
