LA County's Coronavirus Case Rate Doubled In A Week: 'Rethink Your Holiday Plans'

By Brian Frank

Published Nov 16, 2020 1:29 PM

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The adjusted coronavirus case rate in L.A. County has nearly doubled in the past week, from 7.6 to 13.7 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the latest figures released by the local health department.

The county is now seeing more than 3,000 new cases per day, and even with a weekend reporting lag that tends to deflate the numbers, there were nearly 2,800 new cases Monday, according to L.A. County public health director Barbara Ferrer. These are numbers the county hasn't seen since late July.

Ferrer said it's important for all businesses and residents to "return to the mindset we had earlier in the pandemic, where we were following the rules," echoing a travel advisory issued by the state on Friday.

"Rethink your holiday plans and cancel any plans for travel outside the region in the coming weeks. If you have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with others who are not in your household, please make sure that you'll celebrate outdoors with only two other households. If you need to be indoors, this can only happen with members of your immediate family."

Ferrer said we have reached "a very dangerous point in the pandemic" given the increase in cases and hospitalizations. The positivity rate in L.A. County is now 5.3% compared with 3.8% last week.

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She said because the virus has become more widespread, it is a good idea to assume you and anyone you come in contact with could be infected, even if there are no symptoms.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, with some positive news about vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, but we will not be able to get past the surge without returning immediately to some of the precautionary measures taken by residents and businesses in the past:

"There's no path forward for our recovery, until we get this pandemic back under control. A surge like the one we're experiencing is not inevitable because the weather is colder, because we are fatigued."

Ferrer said we should "honor and thank all of our essential workers" by not getting infected or passing the disease on to others.

L.A. COUNTY BY THE NUMBERS:

6 new deaths
7,275 deaths to date
2,795 new cases
342,343 cases to date
1,049 hospitalized
3.4 million tested

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