Los Angeles County health officials are reporting some encouraging news on the coronavirus front. They reported just 21 deaths and 943 new cases today, the lowest numbers in months, even taking into account that Monday tallies are often low because of weekend reporting delays.
There are now 2,213 people hospitalized with COVID-19, compared with more than 8,000 in early January, according to the county.
Though the county still has a long way to go before it can move out of the state's most restrictive COVID-19 purple tier, the daily positivity rate has dropped below 5% - the rate hasn't been that low since October.
Officials also estimate that about 1 in 730 Angelenos are currenly infected with the virus; that's a big improvement from last week when it was about 1 in 460.
County public health director Barbara Ferrer says that while current daily case numbers are still high, the seven-day average has dropped to 1,600 a day, down 90% from its peak of more than 15,000 early last month:
"This wasn't a miracle, and the significant drop in our case numbers reflects actions and choices taken by millions of residents, workers, and employers."
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS:
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