Los Angeles County has become the epicenter of coronavirus cases in California
Los Angeles police officers wear cloth masks to protect themselves.
Photo:
ETIENNE LAURENT / EFE
Los Angeles coronavirus cases topped 5,200 on Saturday, as another 28 deaths were reported in the county's most dramatic day rise yet.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 711 new cases of the new coronavirus and said the total number of deaths increased to 117 in the county.
"This is the most dramatic increase in deaths we have seen since the COVID-19 crisis began." the county's director of public health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, said in a written statement.
Since the county's first death was reported on March 11, the highest number of single-day COVID-19 deaths reported by the county was 13 on Thursday.
According to a press release from the public health department, A total of 5,277 people tested positive for respiratory illness across the county as of Saturday.
Of the patients who died most recently, 21 had underlying health conditions and 17 of them were over the age of 65. Two of them were over 65 years old but had no underlying health conditions. Nine others were between the ages of 18 and 65, and six of those people had underlying health problems.
"Unfortunately, the significant increase in the number of people who died today leaves so many families in our communities facing unimaginable loss and pain," said Ferrer.
In the past 48 hours, 1,238 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Los Angeles Countysaid the department.
"Evaluation capacity continues to increase in Los Angeles County, with nearly 29,000 individuals evaluated and 14% of people testing positive," the department said.
As the county increases testing for the virus, from fewer than 50 people to 7,000 each day, Ferrer said Friday that residents can expect to hear about 1,000 new positive cases a day starting next week.
With the spread of the coronavirus to almost all areas of the county, public health officials have continued to urge residents to stay home and stay at least 6 feet from others if they have to leave.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommended that all Americans wear masks outside, urging everyone to maintain medical-grade masks for those on the front lines of the pandemic and instead make their own masks.
As of Saturday, 1,168 people who tested positive for the virus in Los Angeles County had needed hospitalization at some point.That is, 22% of all county coronavirus patients.
California had a total of 276 deaths and 12,026 coronavirus patients as of Saturday, with about 2,300 people currently hospitalized, as reported by Governor Gavin Newsom.
The governor promised Saturday to significantly expand the availability of the COVID-19 tests for Californians, reporting that about 126,700 people have been tested in the state, but about 13,000 of them are still awaiting their results.
