LOS ANGELES _ The L.A. County Department of Health reported 11 new coronavirus deaths Sunday, as daily hospitalizations continued to decline over the weekend.
About 800 people were hospitalized with the virus countywide, 35% of them in an ICU, marking a significant decline from just a few weeks earlier. The new numbers are similar to April, before the summer surge. Hospitalization is an important metric for charting the course of the pandemic, because it captures how many people are seriously ill with the virus, health officials wrote in a statement.
To date, 6,208 Angelenos have died from COVID-19, and more than 18,000 have been hospitalized since the spring. Of those whose deaths were reported Sunday, four were over 80, four were between 65 and 79, and two others were between 50 and 64 and 30 and 49, respectively. COVID fatalities have clustered among the elderly, though many younger people, including some children, have died from the disease.
The virus remains widespread across L.A. County, although the percent of positive tests has declined steadily, to about 3% this week.
"I send my deepest condolences to the families and friends who are grieving the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19," said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health. "We will get to a place where we are reopening more business sectors and schools, but in order to do so we still need everyone to do their part to minimize spreading COVID-19 to other people. Each of us has an opportunity and responsibility to save lives and to protect our vulnerable residents who are likely to have severe consequences if infected with COVID-19."
