LA Reports Record Coronavirus Deaths And 4,800 New Cases

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County reported nearly 5,000 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday and 91 deaths — the worst daily toll of the pandemic. Officials believe a reporting backlog bears part of the blame for the dismal numbers. However, experts are also cautioning Angelenos to heed health warnings in light of troubling trends such as the increased hospitalizations of children.

Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer warned that though children remain a small percentage of the coronavirus hospitalizations, their numbers are rising. The county has confirmed more than 13,000 cases among children aged 17 and younger. Hospitalizations have been low among children, fueling the misconception that the virus is harmless to kids. But lately, the county is experiencing a spike in hospitalizations among children aged 12-17.

"It's a very small number of children overall ... (but) hospitalizations among children of all ages has been increasing since April," Ferrer said. "As a reminder to our young people, they do need to abide by the public health directives that are in place. They need to wear their face coverings. They shouldn't really be gathering with people they don't live with, and they should avoid all crowded places. I know it's a difficult sacrifice, especially for our children and for our teens who are desperate to spend time with their friends.

"I also know that the only way for us to get back on track with recovery is to adopt behaviors that has us remaining right now with members of our households as much as possible. And even if you don't feel sick, you could be infected and pass the virus on to someone who's vulnerable -- your parents or your grandparents, somebody with an underlying health condition, and they could become devastatingly ill."

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County officials announced 4,825 new cases Wednesday, pushing the county's overall coronavirus death toll to 4,516, while the number of cases rose to 183,383. The 91 deaths included six fatalities that were actually announced by health officials in Pasadena and Long Beach.

The stark statistics belie what county officials believe is a promising trend: a decrease in coronavirus test positivity rates and a leveling off of new hospital admissions. The county's seven-day average positivity rate is holding around 8.5%, and new hospital admissions remain steady, albeit at a higher levels than ideal.

As of Wednesday, there were 2,045 people hospitalized due to coronavirus, according to the county.

Ferrer said the availability of intensive care unit beds and ventilators has been holding steady since April.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county's health services director, also reported positive news in terms of the rate of transmission of the virus, or the average number of people a coronavirus-positive patient infects. As of Wednesday, that average was 0.92, below the benchmark of 1.

Ghaly said the lowering of that average and the slowing of new hospital admissions coincides with the tightening of health orders earlier this month, and continued adherence to infection-control measures is critical to continue the trends.

"This is good news but one that we need to treat with caution and maintain those behaviors," Ghaly said.

Ferrer echoed that sentiment, saying that despite the desire to act as if the virus does not exist, taking precautions is still critical to slow its spread.

"I know that we're all eager and anxious to see our lives return to normal," she said. "We want our children to be back at school, seeing their friends, making new cherished memories with their friends. We do have the tools at hand to make this a reality in the future, but we need compliance with our directives, so please continue to wear a face covering and do not gather with people you don't live with."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.