If COVID-related hospitalizations continue to rise and put LA County into 'high' virus transmission, indoor mask mandates may return.
Of those patients, 63 were being treated in intensive care, up from 61 on Saturday.Director Barbara Ferrer noted last week that while the majority of virus-positive patients were actually admitted to hospitals for reasons other than COVID — and many were unaware they were infected until they were tested upon admission — the patients still put added strain on the health care system, requiring extra infection-control measures in hospitals that standard patients do not.
As of Thursday, the county's rate of new hospital admissions was 5.2 per 100,000 residents, double the rate from a month ago. The portion of beds occupied by virus patients was still relatively low at 2.7%, but also higher than it was last month. On Friday, the county reported 5,051 new COVID infections, raising its cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 2,990,651. Another 10 deaths were also reported, giving the county an overall virus-related death toll of 32,154.The county does not report COVID data on weekends.