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LA County Reports 85% Decrease In Daily COVID-19 Cases, 91% Drop In Deaths

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Wednesday reported 2,394 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 162 new deaths, bringing countywide totals to 1,171,664 cases and 19,368 deaths.

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People wait in line to get inoculated with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at Kedren Community Health Center, in South Central Los Angeles, California on February 16, 2021. (Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

Of the new deaths reported today, 50 people who died were over the age of 80, 55 people were between the ages of 65 and 79, 49 people were between the ages of 50 and 64, six people were between the ages of 30 and 49, one death was under investigation and one death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Public health said the seven-day average number of daily cases has declined by 85% since Feb. 9 to an average of 2,230 cases per day and the seven-day average number of deaths is down 91% from Jan. 10 to an average of 91 deaths per day on Feb. 9.

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As for hospitalizations, health officials said the average number of people hospitalized decreased 61% between Jan. 8 and Feb. 14. As of Wednesday, there were 2,855 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 31% of whom were being treated in intensive care units.

"These decreases are meaningful, and they are good news, but the numbers remain much higher than the numbers we saw in the autumn," Public Health said in a statement.

The department also reported four additional confirmed cases of the COVID-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom, bringing the number of known cases in L.A. County to 12. Health officials said the more contagious variant makes it more important for people to continue to wear face coverings and keep their distance from those they do not live with.

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Health officials also said that nearly 1,541,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the county. Of those vaccinated, 399,642 people have received second doses. But, the department warned that the county was still experiencing a scarcity of supply and variability in the number of doses received from week to week.

"I understand waiting to be vaccinated requires enormous patience as we are all desperate to see this pandemic end," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "I am confident that in the weeks to come more vaccine will be available even if it is not as quickly as we'd like.

With testing results available for nearly 5,715,000 individuals, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 19%, though the daily test positivity rate was 5.5%.

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