Los Angeles County Coronavirus Update: New Daily COVID Cases Hit 2-Week High As Fears Increase About Second Wave Of Virus - Deadline

Los Angeles County health officials confirmed another 1,401 COVID-19 cases today, the highest daily total recorded in the past two weeks, further fueling concerns of a post-Labor Day surge, but hospitalization numbers were still holding steady.

The county reported four consecutive days of 1,000-plus new cases last week, and again for three straight days this week, culminating in Friday’s two-week high.

Public Health Reports 34 New Deaths and 1,401 New Positive Cases of Confirmed #COVID19 in Los Angeles County – 4 Additional Cases of MIS-C in Children Identified.

“We have seen slight increases in new cases and are paying attention to our case, hospitalization and death numbers to understand recent community transmission of COVID-19,” public health director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement.

The state has cleared the business to reopen, but the county has kept them closed, pending word on a possible post-Labor Day increase that health officials fear might be exacerbated by further reopenings.

State and local health experts have been warning for weeks about a potential rise in cases after Labor Day, as people gathered for parties and barbecues, and a “second wave” of the virus as flu season begins.

As of Friday, 760 people were hospitalized due to the virus in Los Angeles County, a slight uptick from Thursday, but still well below the average 2,200 numbers seen in the weeks after the Fourth of July.

A sudden rise in hospitalizations would likely lead to an eventual increase in deaths, health officials have said.

The 1,401 cases announced by the county, along with 34 reported by health officials in Long Beach and five by Pasadena increased the cumulative countywide total since the start of the pandemic to 265,814.

The county reported another 34 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, although three of those deaths were actually reported Thursday by officials in Long Beach.

“Not just for us in terms of public health but others who are watching and monitoring the spread of this virus and trying to do everything we can to control it, it is concerning when we don’t have compliance with the measures that are needed in order to slow the spread of this within our county,” Davis said in an online media briefing Thursday.