Over the last seven days, the average number of daily new Covid cases in Los Angeles was 5,332, an 11% decrease from one week ago when the average number of daily new cases reported was 6,014.
While the 7-day average of cases is a reliable number, it does not indicate the trend in cases, which is decidedly down. Last Monday, the one-day number of daily new cases recorded in Los Angeles was 6,422. Today, just eight days later, the 24-hour tally is just 3,227. That’s very near a 50% drop in one week.
Muddying the waters a bit is the fact that the test positivity rate in L.A. has fallen only slightly from 15.1% one week ago to 13.9% today. It’s hard to explain why that is, given that testing is down along with cases.
Hospitalizations have also slightly decreased. Over the last seven days, the average number of COVID-positive patients per day in LA County hospitals was 1,225, a small decrease from one week ago when the average number of COVID-positive patients per day was 1,262.
Deaths, which usually lag hospitalizations, have yet to fall. There were 17 new Covid-related fatalities recorded today, and an average of 16 deaths reported per day this past week. That compares to an average of 15 deaths one week ago.
Los Angeles County held off on a universal indoor mask mandate last week, based on locally-generated numbers that showed the daily hospital admission rate below 10 new admissions per 100,000 residents– at 9.7 per 100,000. Above 10 is the threshold at which the CDC recommends indoor masking be mandatory.
If the hospital admission rate remains below 10 new daily admissions through this Thursday, L.A. County will be moved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) High Community Level to the Medium Community Level and be in the clear.
