For a third consecutive week, fewer people are testing positive for COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.
“These recent declines may reflect the masking requirements implemented early in the surge and the small increases in our vaccination coverage,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, at her weekly press briefing.
“Other parts of the country that don't have masking requirements and don't have as much vaccination coverage, have not seen these significant declines in cases.”
The county’s case rate has dropped to 104 new cases per 100,000 residents. That’s a nearly 50% decline since the peak of 204 cases per 100,000 on Aug. 19.
The number of people in the hospital due to COVID-19 has also dropped, but Ferrer cautioned that the encouraging numbers may not last.
“While we welcome the decreases, we do anticipate that with increased routine screening, testing and intermingling at schools and work sites, along with Labor Day travel and gatherings, we do face the risk that our case numbers could once again increase,” she said.
County health officials continue to report dozens of deaths a day from the coronavirus, with 50 more reported on Friday.
“These continued losses are unbearable,” Ferrer said. “Especially because so many are preventable by widely available and extremely safe COVID vaccines.”
