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Los Angeles County Coronavirus Update: L.A. Records Only 1 Death Related To COVID-19 On Monday; No Labor Day Surge Emerges; Lowest Total Since March

Los Angeles County reported only one new coronavirus-related death on Monday. Officials were quick to point out that reporting lags over the weekend were likely contributing to the low number. The total number of deaths in the county due to the virus is now 6,515.

Still, the daily number of new deaths is lower than at any time since mid-March. And it’s down from the high of 91 deaths the county reported on July 29. Monday’s number is remarkable even when compared to the running 7-day average of new daily deaths, which is 16.

Orange County likewise reported a very low number of new coronavirus deaths on Monday. In fact, there were no new deaths from the virus in the O.C.

Los Angeles County reported 663 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the countywide total since the start of the pandemic to 268,455. That daily number was also lower that what the county has been seeing, with the 7-day average of new cases being just over 1000.

Asked about the much-touted Labor Day surge in cases — after people congregated over the holiday — Health Department director Barbara Ferrer conceded there had been none.

“A lot of people were making predictions, but we didn’t see the surge. And that’s in part because people took action to prevent the surge.”

While the number of hospitalized COVID-infected patients only grew by 85 on Monday, the percentage of hospitalized patients they make up in the county had grown sharply recently, to 35% on Friday.

“The one age group with a significant increase in hospitalizations is those 18-29,” said Ferrer. That cohort now comprises over 10% of the coronavirus patients hospitalized in the county.

California Coronavirus Update: Governor Gavin Newsom reported on Monday that the state’s test positivity rate continues to trend downward to 2.8 over 14 days. The number of tests is also up.

Newsom said the 7 day average is slightly higher at 2.9%, and reflects a slight uptick in some parts of the state.

“We are seeing early signs that those decreases are beginning to slow down,” said Newsom of the recent positive numbers.

“Some regions are beginning to see an increase in the R Effective — which is the rate each COVID case infects another person. If it is over 1, that means the virus is spreading faster than people are recovering.

San Francisco has suck back up to .95, said the governor.

The region comprised of Orange, San Diego, Riverside and Imperial has risen to .97. Riverside, for its part, has

L.A., Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Kern together are at 1.02 — the same number that Los Angeles officials reported last week for the county.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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