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County health officials reported 971 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths on Sunday.
The new numbers bring the county’s totals to 282,135 cases and 6,771 fatalities.
No new cases were reported in Pasadena.
The number of new cases snapped a four-day streak in which the county had reported more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases, potentially jeopardizing efforts to reopen more sectors of the local economy.
The effect of Sunday’s numbers were unclear, since figures are typically lower on weekends due to reporting lags.
Hospitalizations due to the virus increased from 701 Saturday to 715, with 26 percent of those people in intensive care, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
LA County is still in the strictest level of the state’s four-tier economic-reopening roadmap. The county’s recent testing positivity rate is low enough to qualify the county to move up to a less-restrictive tier, but the average daily number of new cases needs to drop to about 700 per day before any movement will occur.
As of Wednesday, the county’s rate of new cases per 100,000 residents was averaging 7.4, slightly above the limit of 7 needed to move out of the state’s restrictive “purple” tier.
Health officials said they would closely monitor the case numbers this week, and the elevated numbers of last week should be a reminder that COVID-19 is still spreading in the community.
On Tuesday, the county authorized breweries and wineries that don’t have their own kitchens to reopen for outdoor service, provided they partner with a third-party food provider. All alcohol sales for on-site consumption at breweries and wineries must be accompanied by a “bona fide meal” purchase.
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