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Thursday, July 23, 2020

County COVID-19 Numbers Still Concerning, But Improving

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Rising coronavirus cases and fatalities remain concerning with four dozen more deaths confirmed on Thursday, but there are signs Los Angeles County is beginning to turn the corner in efforts to slow the spread of the Coronavirus according to the county’s top health officer.

On Thursday, the county confirmed another 2,014 cases, pushing the overall total to 166,848 since the start of the pandemic.

The county also announced another 49 deaths.

A total of 4,262 people have now died as a result of the virus, according to the county.

“At least this week, we’re still seeing concerning data,” county health officer Dr. Muntu Davis told reporters in an online briefing. “There are still high case counts, hospitalizations have exceeded 2,200 people for at least the last four days in a row and tragically people are still dying from COVID-19. But I hope this week marks a turning point, and that we’ll start to see the results of our collective actions to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We’re already seeing more positive data,” he said. “Our daily positivity rate remains flat at or just below 8.5% — again, that’s a seven-day average. And while this rate is still higher than what we’d like it to be, it offers some evidence we may be returning to slowing the spread and that our efforts and sacrifices are making a difference.”

The seven-day positivity rate in the county reached as high as 11% earlier this month.

Davis warned, however, that recent numbers have been daunting, noting that the county reported about 9,000 new cases of the virus in the first three days of the week alone, with a majority of those infections occurring among younger residents.

The county also reported that 2,210 people were hospitalized.

It was the fifth day in a row the number has exceeded 2,200. But while that number remains just shy of the record set days ago, health officials noted that the steady rise in hospitalizations seen earlier this month appears to have flattened out and may actually be starting to decrease.

Davis urged residents to continue adhering to public health orders such as practicing physical distancing and wearing face coverings in public,and he said business owners must continue to meet all health protocols in their operations.

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