LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals remains stable, increasing by five people to 674, according to the latest state figures.
Of those patients hospitalized as of Saturday, 89 were being treated in intensive care, down from 92 the previous day.
The hospital numbers have been declining over the past month, corresponding with falling transmission rates. County officials have said about 43% of patients with COVID were actually hospitalized due to virus-related illness, while the rest were admitted for other reasons, with some only learning they were infected when they were tested upon admission.
Amid falling COVID-19 numbers, Los Angeles County's public health director has expressed optimism the region will avoid another winter surge like those that resulted in rampant infections and hospitalizations the past two years.
Pointing to the availability of a COVID vaccine booster specifically engineered to attack the highly infectious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants of the virus, Barbara Ferrer urged residents to take advantage of the shots.
"While it is humbling to look back over the past 2 1/2 years and be reminded of the enormity of the impact of COVID on our lives, I am also encouraged as we face our third winter with COVID because we are heading into the colder months with an updated fall booster that matches the variants currently circulating," Ferrer said in a statement. "This was not the case this past winter, when the highly infectious Omicron variant raged, nor the winter of 2020/2021 when most of us were not yet vaccinated.
"The work ahead is to be sure that access to the new vaccines is very easy and that everyone understands that the new Fall booster offers us our best opportunity to try and avert another terrible winter surge."
The county has been reporting downward trends in local infection rates and in the number of people hospitalized with the virus. Ferrer said last week the county's seven-day average new case rate was on the verge of falling below 100 per 100,000 residents. When the county crosses that threshold, possibly by the end of the month, it will further relax its recommendation for indoor mask wearing.
Masks are currently "strongly recommended" in most indoor settings. But the falling case rate will change it to an "individual preference."
Masks continue to be required in select settings, including health care facilities, correctional facilities and homeless shelters. Masks are currently still required aboard public transit vehicles such as buses and trains, but Ferrer said that requirement could also end soon.
The county reported 1,944 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, raising the cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,437,648.
The official number of new cases reported each day is believed to be an undercount of actual infections in the county, due to wide usage of at-home tests, the results of which are not generally reported to the county.
Another 16 virus-related deaths were reported Friday, giving the county an overall death toll of 33,447.
The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 5.2% as of Friday, roughly the same as the past week.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health does not report COVID data on weekends.