More than 4,500 new COVID-19 infections were logged by Los Angeles County over a four-day period ending Monday, Nov. 14, including Veterans Day, along with 27 additional deaths.
The Department of Public Health recorded 1,617 new COVID cases on Nov. 11, 1,188 on Nov. 12, 938 on Nov. 13 and 822 Monday. The new cases lifted the county’s cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,506,367. The actual number of current COVID infections in the county is likely higher, with many people using at-home tests without reporting the results to health officials.
The 27 new COVID-related deaths reported Monday gave the county an overall death toll of 34,065. The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 5.9% as of Monday. An updated number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals was not immediately available at press time.
County officials over the past week reported increases in local COVID-19 infection rates. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the county had an average of about 1,300 new COVID cases per day last week, up from about 1,000 per day the previous week. She said the daily average case numbers have been “slowly but steadily increasing” since the beginning of November.
The rate of infections is also rising, reaching a weekly average of 86 cases per 100,000 residents last week, up from 65 per 100,000 residents two weeks ago, Ferrer said.
If that average rises to 100 cases per 100,000 residents per week, the county will again “strongly recommend” that people wear masks indoors. Indoor mask wearing is currently only a matter of personal preference, unless an individual location or business opts to require them.
Health officials have been expressing concern about a possible winter COVID surge, mirroring similar increases seen the past two years during the winter months. They noted that cooler temperatures lead to more people spending time indoors in more crowded, less-ventilated spaces — conditions that are ripe for virus spread.
