LOS ANGELES _ Among a troubling spike in the number of coronavirus cases across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a bit of positive news Monday: The rate of positive infections over the past 14 days has held steady, while the seven-day average has dipped slightly.
Newsom reported that the statewide positivity rate has remained at 7.4% for the past two weeks and that the one-week average for positive infections decreased from 7.7% to 7.2%.
A more concerning number, however, is the hospitalization rate, which has increased by 16% over the past 14 days. Still, that number is a smaller overall increase when compared to the weeks before.
But, Newsom warned, the numbers apply to the state as a whole, which has confirmed more than 337,000 infections and 7,716 coronavirus-related deaths. Several counties are still experiencing a surge in infections.
"County by county, things look very differently than they do statewide," the governor said.
In Los Angeles County, where more than 155,000 cases have been reported, the disease has become most prevalent in the relatively young: 53% of the nearly 3,000 latest infections occurred in people younger than 41, and 52% of cases to date in the county have occurred in that age group.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti repeated a dire warning over the weekend that the city is on the brink of fully shutting down again. The mayor blamed a rapid reopening of the economy and people becoming less vigilant about following public health guidance for the rise in the number of infections.
The city is currently in an orange-level threat territory, the second highest of the color-coded categories he unveiled in early July. But if the situation escalates _ for example, if hospital capacity becomes limited _ the threat assessment could move to red, which would lead to a total shutdown, Garcetti warned.
Los Angeles is one of 33 counties the state is monitoring for a surge in cases and hospitalizations.
While some counties, such as San Francisco, have moved off and on the state's watch list over the last few weeks, L.A. County has remained on the list for the better part of a month.
Among the reasons for monitoring are the county's overall infection numbers. According to state guidelines, counties must have no more than 100 infections per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period to be able to relax public health restrictions. According to public health data, Los Angeles County's infection rate is 318.9 per 100,000 residents.
The county is also above the 8% positivity rate the state has called for.
On Sunday, officials reported a record number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals: 2,216. Of those, 26% were in intensive care, and 19% were on ventilators. It was the fifth consecutive day the county saw more than 2,100 patients in hospitals and the first day that number surpassed 2,200.
Despite the increase, the county is still in good shape with the number of available hospital beds, officials said.
More than 1.5 million residents have been tested for the virus, and 10% have tested positive, as of Sunday, data show. The seven-day average for positive infections is at 8.8%.
An experimental vaccine trial in the U.S. is scheduled to begin soon. Roughly 30,000 people, including Californians, will be enrolled.
Scientists at Oxford University recently announced that an experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds who got the shot. Researchers began testing in April in about 1,000 people, and half received the experimental vaccine.
