LA County Sees Slight Uptick In Number Of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles County was seeing a slight uptick in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 this weekend with an additional 239 cases being reported.
Sunday's figures brought the county's totals to 1,249,304 cases and 24,477 fatalities since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that the county was seeing slight but definite increases in average daily infections, hospitalizations and testing positivity rates -- but not sharp enough to spark immediate concerns about spiking cases.
With the continuing spread of the infectious Delta variant of virus, Ferrer said the small increases should be a warning to those who remain unvaccinated to take other precautions, such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
According to the California Department of Public Health, the Delta variant now constitutes 14.5% of the state's coronavirus cases analyzed in June, up from 4.7% in May.
"Now that we have reopened and safety modifications have been lifted in most settings, we must continue to increase vaccinations," Ferrer said Friday. "While COVID-19 deaths have dropped dramatically in L.A. County, the deaths that continue to occur are almost 100% among unvaccinated adults. Ninety-nine percent of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in L.A. County since January have been unvaccinated."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)