Over the weekend, Los Angeles County began opening gyms, salons, and more restaurants even though the confirmed coronavirus cases in the county continued to increase.
Now, according to the Los Angeles Times, L.A. County is reporting more than 3,000 deaths and over 80,000 confirmed cases of the virus. However city health officials claim that the city's outbreak has stabilized and that the rising confirmed cases are just a reflection of heightened testing, not community spread.
“The most important data continues to be looking at our death data and our hospitalization data and our rate of positivity, and ... all of the indicators really point to the fact that we are fairly stable and that we in fact continue to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Barbara Ferrer, the county’s health director, said Friday.
As of Sunday, Los Angeles reported a total of 332 coronavirus patients in county hospitals, with 133 of those in intensive care units. City officials said they are closely monitoring the cases and are prepared to order new restrictions if need be.
“These are the actions that allow us to continue our recovery journey, and these actions will be essential to ensure that we don’t overwhelm our healthcare system and see increased numbers of deaths from COVID-19,” Ferrer said Sunday in a statement.
Find more details on the Los Angeles Times.