As of Thursday, the county’s average rate of new COVID cases was 180 per 100,000 residents, down from 204 per 100,000 a week ago. That dropped the county below the threshold of 200 per 100,00…
Thanks to falling infection numbers, Los Angeles County on Thursday, Dec. 22, moved out of the federal government’s “high” COVID-19 activity category and into the “medium” level, but the county’s health director warned that transmission remains elevated and urged people to exercise caution over the holidays.
Moving from the “high” to the “medium” category will not have any impact on public health restrictions, although it decreases the likelihood of the county re-imposing an indoor mask-wearing mandate, which Ferrer previously said could be done if case rates and hospitalization numbers continued to increase.
She urged residents to “layer in protections over the next few weeks,” such as wearing masks in crowded indoor settings, staying home when sick and getting tested before attending large gatherings. Ferrer said the county is averaging 178 new COVID-related hospital admissions per day, about a 10% drop from a week ago, but she said the number is still at its highest level since April, even higher than during the summer surge in infections.
According to state figures, there were 1,256 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Thursday, down from 1,274 on Wednesday. Of those patients, 150 were being treated in intensive care units, down slightly from 152 the previous day.
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