LA County Sees Sharp Increase In Community Transmission; Reports 65 Coronavirus Deaths, 2,496 New Cases
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles County health officials reported 65 additional coronavirus deaths Wednesday and 2,496 new cases following Tuesday's record number of cases.
The county's totals now stand at 3,642 deaths and 123,004 cases.
"We are seeing a sharp increase in community transmission," said L.A. County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer.
Ferrer said that despite the relatively high number of deaths reported Wednesday, the rolling seven-day average of daily fatalities has been trending downward in recent weeks.
But she warned that the county's rising numbers of cases and hospitalizations could lead to a corresponding spike in deaths.
"We are...at a very critical juncture in our pandemic,'' Ferrer said. "We're entering a phase where we're seeing community spread and hospitalizations like we saw in late April and what we hoped would be the height of infection here in L.A. County. But ... our cases are rising, the rate of infection is increasing and the number of hospitalizations are up."
"And today we're even seeing a small increase in the number of deaths, although this is a data point that usually lags behind all others.
Tragically we do expect that more of our loved ones and our neighbors may die of COVID-19 in the coming weeks with all of the increases we're seeing in hospitalizations.''
Ferrer also announced the county has launched an updated data portal to make it easier for people to obtain accurate information on data points across the county.
According to Ferrer, inspectors said they witnessed high rates of compliance over the July 4th weekend.
Out of the 1,101 businesses visited, 99% complied with health orders and 98% practiced safe physical distancing.
Out of the customers, 99% wore proper face coverings. All bars, breweries and wineries visited were also closed in compliance with safety orders.
All testing appointments are booked throughout the remainder of the week due in part to the city and county closing sites over the holiday weekend.
The mismatch between supply and demand has also impacted the number of appointments available.
The county announced they will be adding additional slots at testing sites and add more county-funded test sites focused in vulnerable areas.
In the last three weeks, 18 new sites have been added.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
