COVID cases in Los Angeles County nearly triple over last five weeks

The number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Los Angeles County nearly tripled in the last five weeks as federal health officials report California is seeing increasing levels of the virus that causes the disease.

The state is one of just a handful across the U.S. seeing levels of SARS-CoV-2 that are considered "very high," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is testing wastewater to measure levels of the virus. Only Oregon, Nevada and Florida had even higher levels of the virus in wastewater examined by federal health officials. 

In Los Angeles County, the 7-day average number of daily cases — an average based on daily numbers recorded over the past week — has climbed steadily since mid-May. At that time, the daily average for cases was 67, according to county health officials.

On Thursday, the daily average reported was 359 cases. That's nearly three times as many cases as the health department recorded five weeks earlier on June 13. Then, the daily average was 121. 

Hospitalizations of COVID patients in the county have also gone up. The daily average number of hospitalizations reported Thursday was 287, more than doubling since five weeks earlier when health officials reported a 7-day average of 126 on June 13.

While the number of hospitalizations has not risen at as high a rate as overall cases, it has still increased consistently week-over-week since early June. 

The CDC has discovered particularly high levels of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater being tested in states in the West, where the number of people being treated for COVID in emergency rooms has also gone up. ER visits in Los Angeles County have risen steadily over the past month, from early June until now. 

Federal health officials have said March marked the tail end of a nationwide surge in cases through the winter. The uptick in cases this summer reflects a pattern that's been seen in the years since the pandemic in 2020.

"We are seeing patterns that are consistent with what we have observed over the last couple of years in the summer, where we have seen upticks in activity that have occurred around this time of year that are not quite as large as what we see during the winter peaks," said Aron Hall, deputy director for science in the CDC's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles County, the daily average number of deaths has gone up and down in recent weeks, not showing the consistent upward climb seen in case and hospitalization rates. The daily average death rate was 0.9 both on June 13 and Thursday.

Across the county, cases have been recorded among people 30 to 49 years old more than any other age group and some parts of LA County continue to see higher case rates than neighboring areas. The city of Industry reported a case rate much higher than any other city. 

And reflecting a trend seen since the start of the pandemic, lower-income areas continue to report higher case rates on average.