LA County Reports 439 New COVID-19 Cases, 7 Deaths; Health Officials Call On Residents To Minimize Non-Essential Activities
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Tuesday reported 439 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and seven new deaths, bringing countywide totals to 249,241 cases and 6,036 deaths.
Health officials said the low number of new cases and deaths reflected both a lag in reporting and decreased testing availability over the Labor Day holiday.
Of the seven new deaths reported Tuesday, three people were over the age of 80, one person was between the ages of 65 and 79 and three people were between the ages of 50 and 64. All seven people had underlying health conditions.
There were 942 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized Tuesday, with 33% being treated in intensive care units.
Due to unhealthy air quality caused by fire, smoke and higher temperatures, health officials urged those in impacted areas to avoid unnecessary outdoor exposure and to limit physical exertion. They also reminded people of the importance of continuing to minimize non-essential activities to decrease spread of the virus.
"As we prepare for schools re-opening to provide services for high need students that require in-person support, we all must do our very best to minimize participating in non-essential activities that create risk of virus transmission," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "L.A. County is still among the California counties with high rates of community transmission. Before we get into cooler weather and flu season, we need to significantly lower the number of new cases. This is the only path forward that allows us to get more students back to school and reopen more business sectors."
With testing results available for more than 2,385,000 people, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 10%.
