County Reports 0 New Deaths From COVID-19, Underscoring Pandemic’s Loosening Grip on Region

The county on Sunday reported 313 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths, though officials said those low numbers likely reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

According to state figures, the number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals dropped from 410 on Saturday to 390, with 87 people in intensive care, up from 86 the previous day.

Sunday’s figures brought the county’s totals to 1,233,772 cases and 23,915 fatalities since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

As of Saturday, the county’s test positivity rate was at the lowest level of the pandemic at 0.6%.

The county has further eased its COVID-19 health restrictions, allowing indoor playgrounds and arcades to reopen at limited capacity, while lifting restrictions on operating hours for bars, breweries and wineries.

Indoor arcades and playgrounds — such as laser tag businesses, ball pits or “bounce” centers — are restricted to 25% of capacity, along with other mandated safety modifications.

Bars, which are currently allowed to operate outdoors only, had been restricted to operating hours of 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., but those restrictions are now lifted.

The county is expected to reach the least-restrictive yellow tier of the state’s four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy when updated statistics are released on Tuesday. Ferrer said if the county does qualify for the move, a new health order with more relaxed restrictions will be published Wednesday, taking effect Thursday.

Entering the yellow tier will primarily allow higher capacity limits at most businesses. Fitness centers, cardrooms, wineries and breweries, for instance, would be permitted to increase indoor attendance limits to 50%, up from the current 25%; bars would be able to open indoors at 25%; outdoor venues such as Dodger Stadium could increase capacity to 67%, up from the current 33%; and amusement parks could allow 35%, up from 25%.

The county also revised its health order last week to incorporate changes in mask-wearing guidelines recommended last week for fully vaccinated people by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The revisions also state that surveillance COVID testing is no longer recommended for fully vaccinated people, unless they work at skilled nursing facilities or other high-risk settings, are traveling internationally or are required by a particular business or facility.