LA County Surpasses 17K COVID-19 Deaths, Adds 3,763 New Cases
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Tuesday reported 3,763 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 205 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 1,124,558 cases and 17,057 deaths.
In a little more than a month, the county has reported more than 7,000 new COVID-19 deaths, going from just over 10,000 on Dec. 30 to more than 17,000 Tuesday.
Of the 205 new deaths reported, 58 people were over the age of 80, 75 people were between the ages of 65 and 79, 49 people were between the ages of 50 and 64, 19 people were between the ages of 30 and 49 and one person was between the ages of 18 and 29.
"COVID-19 is responsible for more than 17,000 people passing away and thousands more becoming seriously ill in Los Angeles County," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "More than 72% of all our COVID-19 deaths occurred in people 65 years old or older."
And while the county continues to make progress in reducing the number of daily new cases and slowing the spread of the virus, health officials said new cases remain substantially higher than last September when daily case reports were under 1,000 per day.
There were 5,259 COVID-19 patients hospitalized Tuesday, 27% of whom were being treated in intensive care units. Public Health said the three-day average for daily hospitalizations was 5,328, a marked decline from the beginning of January.
With testing results available for nearly 5,530,000 individuals, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 19%, though Tuesday's daily test positivity rate was 10%.
