LOS ANGELES – The number of patients hospitalized with a coronavirus infection in Los Angeles County has once again dropped below 700, according to the latest state figures.
As of Friday, 692 people were hospitalized with COVID-related illnesses, down from 726 one day earlier.
Of those patients hospitalized, 64 were being treated in intensive care, down 71 on Thursday.
Some of the patients were initially hospitalized for other reasons and learned later they had COVID.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County health officials reported 18 new COVID-19 deaths in its latest data released this week.
The new fatalities gave the county an overall death toll from the pandemic of 35,631.
A majority of people who die from COVID-19 are elderly or have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension.
The county also reported 1,753 new COVID infections Thursday, lifting the cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,700,188.
The daily case numbers released by the county are undercounts of actual virus activity in the county, due to people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, and others who don’t test at all.
The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 7% as of Thursday, roughly the same as the past week.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health releases updated coronavirus data on Thursdays.
