This weekend, Los Angeles County exceeded 1 million COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic and reported its first case with the more contagious variant that was initially discovered in the United Kingdom last year.
On Saturday, the county registered over 14,000 cases and approximately 253 deaths and 7,597 hospitalizations, according to statistics from the country’s public health department.
The figures push Los Angeles to the top county in the country in terms of COVID-19 cases, totaling more than the next two counties, Cook and Maricopa, combined.
Although California has been among the strictest states in the country in implementing restrictions, it has continued to see an increase in cases over the past two weeks, averaging over 41,000 new cases of coronavirus each day.
While California has the second highest number of deaths in the country, the state ranks 39th in the number of deaths per capita, at 81.8.
The gloomy forecast was in contrast to an optimistic news conference held Friday by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Gov. Gavin Newsom at Dodger Stadium, which is being turned into a vaccination center capable of delivering 12,000 doses a day.
California has received more than 3.5 million doses of the vaccine and given just over 1 million doses. Newsom said the state is on track to exceed its goal of administering about 1.5 million doses by Friday.
The governor tried to shine an encouraging trend: hospitalizations, hospitalizations in intensive care units and positivity rates – the percentage of people tested who have the virus – have fallen over the past seven days.
Fox News contacted Governor Newsom’s press office with a request for comment, but did not hear until it was published.
The governor’s message on Friday contrasted sharply with his warning early last month that strict lock-in measures would be taken regionally when the ICU’s bed capacity fell below 15%. Days later, Los Angeles County was placed under new blockade orders.
Meanwhile, the county’s public health department confirmed the first case of COVID-19, B.1.1.7, to a person who recently spent time in Los Angeles County.
Although it was the first confirmed case of the variant in the county, public health officials believe that it is probably already spreading in the community and continues to test the evidence.
The Department of Public Health has reiterated the basic COVID-19 guidelines for preventing the spread of variant B.1.1.7, which is said to spread faster than other variants, but does not necessarily cause more severe disease or an increased risk of death.
Louis Casiano and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.