County Reports 830 New COVID-19 Cases on Friday; No New Local Infections Listed

County health officials on Sunday reported 830 new cases of the coronavirus and four additional deaths, bringing the county’s totals to 299,760 cases with 6,993 fatalities.

Locally, no new cases and no additional deaths were reported.

The number of new cases is usually lower on the weekend due to reporting delays.

The county reported 2,173 new cases on Saturday, 2,773 on Friday, and 3,600 on Thursday, with those numbers attributed to the resolution of a technical glitch that delayed the release of a large number of test results over the previous several days.

Hospitalizations, which have remained below the 800 mark for several weeks, ticked up slightly from 770 to 785, 29 percent of whom were in intensive care units, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Locally, 19 people were being treated at Huntington Hospital.

Officials said more than 3,029,000 individuals in the county have been tested, with 9 percent testing positive.

Also Friday, county officials lifted restrictions on some businesses.

The revisions allowed the reopening of indoor personal-care businesses, such as tattoo parlors and massage-therapy shops.

The county also cleared the way for outdoor family entertainment centers to open, including go-kart tracks, miniature golf courses, and batting cages.

A program that allows schools to resume in-person instruction for high-need and English-learning students was also expanded Friday. That program previously allowed schools to bring such students, up to 10 percent of a school’s overall enrollment, back to campus. That limit is now being increased to 25 percent,
Supervisor Kathryn Barger said, “so more students and youth can have access to their teachers and the on-site support systems that are so critical for their growth and for their education.”

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that as of last week, 986 schools were taking part in that program, with nearly 35,000 students now receiving in-person instruction and nearly 20,000 teachers and staff back on campuses. Those changes in the county’s health officer order are expected to be finalized Friday.

The county is also revising its order to ease restrictions on wineries and breweries. Customers will no longer be required to make reservations one day in advance to visit a winery or brewery, and wineries will no longer be required to sell food along with alcohol.