County Reports 239 COVID-19 Infections and 3 Deaths On Sunday; Delta Variant Spreads

Los Angeles County officials on Sunday reported 239 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths, though the number of infections and fatalities likely reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

Sunday’s figures brought the county’s totals to 1,249,304 cases and 24,477 fatalities since the pandemic began, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported.

According to state figures, there were 238 people hospitalized in the county due to COVID-19 as of Sunday, up from 231 on Saturday. There were 52 COVID patients in intensive care, down from 55 the previous day.

Over the past several days, the daily number of new cases has reached levels not seen in about six weeks, as health officials continued urging people to get tested if they develop symptoms of the virus, even if they are vaccinated.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that the county was seeing slight but definite increases in average daily infections, hospitalizations and testing-positivity rates — but not sharp enough to spark immediate concerns about spiking cases.

But Ferrer said with the continuing spread of the infectious “Delta” variant of virus, which is blamed for rampant infections in India and parts of the United Kingdom, the small increases should be a warning to those who remain unvaccinated to take other precautions, such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
She has repeatedly said COVID-19 is now a pandemic of unvaccinated people — with Black residents seeing a disproportionate share of the recent case and hospitalization increases, reflective of their low vaccination rate.

“Now that we have reopened and safety modifications have been lifted in most settings, we must continue to increase vaccinations,” Ferrer said Friday. “While COVID-19 deaths have dropped dramatically in L.A. County, the deaths that continue to occur are almost 100% among unvaccinated adults. Ninety-nine percent of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in L.A. County since January have been unvaccinated.

“While masking and distancing remain effective means for reducing transmission, the most powerful tool we have for keeping cases down and protecting ourselves and others are the COVID-19 vaccines,” she said.

Ferrer stressed the level of protection offered by the COVID vaccines, releasing statistics showing that between Dec. 7 and June 7, 99.6% of all new COVID infections in the county involved people who were not vaccinated. Of the people who were hospitalized due to the virus in that time period, 98.7%
were unvaccinated. And among those who died, 99.8% were unvaccinated.

As of June 20, more than 10.2 million doses of vaccine had been
administered in the county, with 67% of residents age 16 and over having at least one dose, and 58% fully vaccinated.