The variety of coronavirus sufferers in Los Angeles County hospitals continued to fall Monday — declining from 1,480 on Sunday to 1,463, based on the most recent state figures.
The variety of these sufferers in intensive care additionally declined, from 433 to 412.
The newest figures got here as county well being officers reported 11 further deaths related to the virus and 1,540 new circumstances of COVID-19, bringing the county totals to 1,420,560 circumstances and 25,456 fatalities because the pandemic started.
Monday’s case and demise numbers probably mirror reporting delays over the weekend, based on the Los Angeles County Division of Public Well being.
In the meantime, officers have additionally confirmed the presence of what is often called the Mu variant of the virus, which is described as extremely contagious and doubtlessly capable of evade vaccines.
The county’s well being division has detected 167 situations of the Mu variant, all between June 19 and Aug. 21, with most of them present in July.
The Mu variant — formally labeled a “variant of curiosity” by the World Well being Group — was first found in Colombia in January, and has since been detected in 39 nations.
Some preliminary critiques of the variant have indicated it has the potential to evade presently obtainable vaccines. However in an announcement Friday, county well being officers stated “extra research are wanted to find out whether or not Mu variant is extra contagious, extra lethal or extra immune to vaccine and coverings than different COVID-19 strains.”
The Delta variant stays the dominant COVID-19 pressure circulating within the county, with Public Well being Director Barbara Ferrer saying Thursday it represents almost all the circumstances that bear the sequencing wanted to establish particular viral mutations. Delta is labeled a “variant of concern” by the WHO.
“The identification of variants like Mu, and the spreading of variants throughout the globe, highlights the necessity for L.A. County residents to proceed to take measures to guard themselves and others,” Ferrer stated.
“That is what makes getting vaccinated and layering protections so essential. These are actions that break the chain of transmission and limits COVID-19 proliferation that permits for the virus to mutate into one thing that could possibly be extra harmful.”
Ferrer famous Thursday that the county has begun to see decreases within the price of latest infections. In keeping with Ferrer, the county’s cumulative seven-day price of latest circumstances was 159 per 100,000 residents final week, a 16% drop from the earlier week and down 22% from the height of 204 per 100,000 residents in mid-August.
The county’s price of individuals testing constructive for the virus rose Friday to three.3%, up from 2.97% a day earlier.
Amongst eligible county residents age 12 and over, 75% have acquired at the least one dose of vaccine, whereas 65% are absolutely vaccinated.
Once more touting the effectiveness of the vaccines, Ferrer stated that of almost 5.3 million residents who had been absolutely vaccinated as of Tuesday, 37,614 have examined constructive for the virus, for a price of 0.71%, whereas 1,049 have been hospitalized, a price of 0.02%. Of these absolutely vaccinated, 118 have died, for a price of 0.0022%.
About 90% of all of the native deaths related to COVID-19 had been in folks with an underlying well being situation, based on the county’s well being division. The commonest situations had been hypertension (current in 55% of fatalities), diabetes (43%) and coronary heart illness (29%).
