L.A. County could move into next reopening stage in October if there is no surge in COVID-19 cases, officials say - KTLA Los Angeles

Los Angeles County could move into the next reopening stage as early as October if there is no new surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations associated with Labor Day weekend, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday.

She explained that while the region’s case positivity rate — now only at slightly higher than 3% — meets standards to move into less restrictive Tier 2, the current daily case of rate of 8.1 cases per 100,000, does not.

“If we don’t see a surge in cases and hospitalizations associated with activities over Labor Day, and we continue to reduce our rate of community transmission over the weeks ahead, we could enter Tier 2 sometime in October,” Ferrer said.

Additionally, cases, hospitalizations and death rates among highly impacted groups continue to decline and disparity gaps are starting to close, Ferrer said.

For example, in June the average case rate among Latinos was at 200 cases per 100,000, which was four times higher than among white residents, and five times higher than among Asians.

But in September, while cases among Latinos were still higher than others, they dropped to an average of 40 cases per 100,000, Ferrer explained.