LA area reports second-highest COVID-19 death toll in almost a year

Los Angeles County reported the second-highest daily coronavirus death toll in close to a year on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The 102 deaths was the county’s highest daily toll from COVID-19 in the past 11 months, according to the newspaper.

While the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health noted in a statement on Wednesday that hospital admissions have been declining, the department noted that numbers of patients requiring ventilators and those in the ICU have remained steady. 

The county said that it was entering a post-surge phase and noted that the health department had issued a modified county order on Wednesday that would no longer require masking at large outdoor events or in outdoor spaces, including at child care centers and K-12 schools, given that hospitalizations have been below 2,500 for seven days in a row.

However, the county noted that masking was still required in certain indoor settings like schools and correctional facilities. California’s top health official said earlier this week that indoor masking in schools would be in place until at least the end of February.

The data illustrates that while areas of the country are seeing progress in certain pandemic indicators, some areas are still continuing to grapple with losses from the pandemic.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the country’s public health department, said in a statement.

“While entering post-surge is welcoming news, we are all aware that post-surge does not mean the pandemic is over, or that transmission is low, or that there will not be additional unpredictable waves of surges in the future that will require integrated public health measures.”