COVID-19 cases again trended downward Wednesday, fueling more optimism that Los Angeles County could advance further in the state’s business-reopening blueprint, but the county’s public health director said she’ll keep preaching vigilance — and continue to fret about another possible rise in cases.
“I am relieved that we’re in our recovery where more and more people are being vaccinated and cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decrease,” Barbara Ferrer told reporters during an online briefing. “But it has come at a huge price. And I know there are many like me remembering what we’ve been through and how the lives of so many have been forever changed by this pandemic. These memories ought to remind us that we owe it to ourselves and to our community to get to the other side of this pandemic, being as careful as we can to prevent more illness and death.”
Asked later if she was worried about a slight uptick this week in the COVID transmission rate in the county, she responded flatly, “We’re public health. We always worry about cases going back up.”
Ferrer said health officials will be keeping a close watch on numbers and trends. On Monday, the county reported that the COVID transmission rate — which is the average number of people a COVID patient infects with the virus — rose slightly in the past week from 0.79 to 0.87. Although the number is up, it remains lower than 1.0, meaning spread of the virus is still being slowed overall. If the number is higher than one, case numbers overall are expected to increase.
There are 857 people currently in the hospital in Los Angeles County according to county health officials. That’s 8 fewer people in the hospital than on Tuesday when there were 865 people hospitalized.
The last time there were so few people hospitalized with COVID was Nov. 9, when there were 855 people hospitalized.
The county’s all-time high for COVID hospitalizations occurred on Jan. 7, when there were 8,098 people hospitalized.
There are 225 people currently in the ICU according to the state. The county’s total ICU capacity is about 2,500 beds.
County health officials announced 75 more COVID-related deaths on Wednesday. The cumulative death toll in LA County is 22,580 people.
The highest number of COVID deaths in a single day occurred on Jan. 8 with 318 deaths. The second highest occurred on Jan. 30 with 316 deaths.
LA County reported 897 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The county now has a cumulative total of 1,211,733 cases since the pandemic began in March.
To date, over 5.97 million people in the county have been tested for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Today’s positivity rate is 1.9%.
West Hollywood recorded 5 new cases; the cumulative total is 2,188 cases since the pandemic began. The city had no new deaths; the cumulative death total is 35 deaths.
Below are the numbers for areas near West Hollywood:
- Beverly Hills – 4 new cases for a total of 2,548 cases and 34 deaths.
- Carthay neighborhood – 3 new cases for a total of 890 cases and 62 deaths.
- Century City – 2 new cases for a total of 585 cases and 12 deaths.
- Culver City – 4 new cases for a total of 2,129 cases and 96 deaths.
- Hollywood – 4 new cases for a total of 5,328 cases and 66 deaths.
- Melrose neighborhood – 5 new cases total of 7,958 cases and 201 deaths.
- Miracle Mile – 3 new cases for a total of 938 cases and 16 deaths.
- Park La Brea – 2 new cases for a total of 587 cases and 1 death.
- Santa Monica – 12 new cases for a total of 4,500 cases and 156 deaths.
The Carthay neighborhood incorporates the areas of Los Angeles between the Beverly Hills city limits and Fairfax Avenue, with Beverly Boulevard as the northern border and Wilshire Boulevard as the southern border.
The Melrose neighborhood incorporates the areas of Los Angeles east of La Cienega and west of Vermont Avenue, between Santa Monica Boulevard on the north and Beverly Boulevard on the south.
For information about the many resources available to West Hollywood residents who have been impacted by COVID-19, CLICK HERE.
