Countywide hospitalizations top record
By Sam Catanzaro
As cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to rise countywide, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city is on the brink of another stay-at-home order.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tappe Sunday, Garcetti said he was “on the brink” of issuing a new stay-at-home order, but did elaborate on details.
Garcetti also admitted that Los Angeles began reopening too soon, saying “I do agree those things happened too quickly,” but also pointed out that these decisions were made at the county and state level.
On Monday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed nine new deaths and 3,160 new cases of COVID-19. As of Monday, Public Health has identified 159,045 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 4,104 deaths. The decrease in deaths may reflect a reporting lag from over the weekend, according to Public Health.
In Westwood there have been 202 cases and five deaths. In Century City there have been 84 cases and zero deaths.
For the second straight day, Public Health confirmed Monday the highest number of new hospitalizations reported in a day with 2,232 people currently hospitalized, surpassing yesterday’s count of 2,216 hospitalizations. Of the 2,232 confirmed COVID-19 cases currently hospitalized, 26 percent of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 19 percent are confirmed cases on ventilators.
On Monday, Public Health announced it is also piloting a $20 gift card incentive program to thank individuals for participating in an hour-long contact tracing interview.
“Contact tracing is a valuable tool for slowing the spread of COVID-19, and that’s why we’re providing $10 million to community-based organizations and piloting a $20 gift card incentive for full participation in the interview process. But contact tracing cannot slow this virus on its own. We need our residents and our businesses to heed public health directives,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
As of July 7, a total number of 92,523 confirmed positive cases are part of case investigations.
