Los Angeles–The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 51 new deaths and 989 new cases of confirmed COVID-19. This is the first time the number of reported new cases has been under 1,000 since the beginning of June. In mid to late July, the daily reported number of new cases was around 3,200 cases per day.
To date, Public Health identified 233,777 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 5,605 deaths.
The state is monitoring all counties on six indicators to determine their progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19. These indicators include testing capacity, how much transmission of the virus is happening in the community, how many people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, and the capacity of hospitals to care for people with COVID-19 with adequate numbers of available Intensive Care Unit beds and ventilators. LA County is meeting five of the state’s six indicators, only missing the mark on the threshold of having less than 100 cases per 100,000 residents. As of today, August 25, the case rate per 100,000 people is 196 cases per 100,000 residents.
The Governor allowed local health officers the discretion to grant waivers to school districts and private schools that would permit schools to reopen for in-classroom instruction for students in grades TK through grade 6 once case rates were under 200 per 100,000 people.
It is too early to tell if the County’s 14-day case rate will remain below 200, especially given cases reported on Monday and Tuesday are typically lower than other days of the week. Public Health will continue to monitor the case rate reported by the State.
Public Health is working to assess the new guidance issued today by the State to determine what additional adjustments may be needed before opening up the waiver process.
