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Los Angeles County public health officials on Friday reported more than 1,100 new coronavirus cases — more than double the number of cases tallied just a week ago.
Five additional deaths from the virus were also confirmed.
Public Health Urges Vaccinations and Safety Precautions as COVID-19 Cases Continue to Increase; Fully Vaccinated Healthcare Workers Protected. 5 New Deaths and 1,107 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. View https://t.co/4xsBaACvyg pic.twitter.com/QCiyYalHRO
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) July 9, 2021
The county's test positivity rate has also increased in the past week, going from 1.5% to 2.4%. Though that rate is still relatively low compared with last year's summer and winter surges, it signals that more unvaccinated people are becoming infected with the virus. Officials are growing more concerned about the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.
Hospitalizations are also up slightly, with 320 COVID patients now receiving treatment for the disease at local hospitals.
The last time that L.A. County saw over 1,000 coronavirus cases was on March 11, when officials logged over 1,300 cases.
COVID-19 Daily Update:
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) March 12, 2021
March 11, 2021
New Cases: 1,378 (1,208,024 to date)
New Deaths: 101 (22,304 to date)
Current Hospitalizations: 1,056 pic.twitter.com/jbPNYy6Fqx
Health officials have been cautioning for weeks that an uptick was likely with the rollback of most COVID-19 restrictions last month. They continue to urge anyone 12 and older not yet vaccinated to get one of the vaccines ASAP.
