Los Angeles County health officials announced an additional 66 coronavirus-linked deaths Wednesday, bringing the total number to 729 since the outbreak began.
Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, also confirmed 1,318 new COVID-19 cases — pushing the cumulative total to 16,435.
Of those who have died from coronavirus infection, 89% had some kind of underlying health condition, according to Ferrer.
“This underscores the need for all of us to do the best job possible to make sure people who have serious health conditions are able to stay home and stay safe,” she said.
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California has recorded almost 36,000 cases, adding nearly 2,000 on Tuesday alone. Part of the uptick in new cases this week is the result of a lag in labs reporting test results and releasing bulk numbers. More than 1,300 people have died across the state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and others have said that California and the nation have not necessarily seen the worst of coronavirus and that lifting stay-at-home rules could be disastrous.
“We remain committed with our health partners to safely ease restrictions so people can return to work and reunite with loved ones,” said Kathryn Barger, chairwoman of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. “Keep in mind, science and data will guide our decision.”
Newsom on Wednesday reemphasized that there are six key indicators for potentially modifying the stay-at-home order. Among those is increasing testing capacity, which he said “may be among the most important.”
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Currently, the state can provide about 16,000 tests a day, he said, and the goal is to boost that to 25,000 a day by the end of the month.
To that end, he announced that the state is bringing 86 new testing sites online, which will be placed in more rural reaches of the state and areas where they can serve “black and brown” communities.
“These sites will provide the kind of continuity that we need to ultimately advance our collective goals in this state to reach these testing goals,” he said, adding that their strategic deployment will “make sure we are truly culturally competent in our testing.”
Newsom also announced that California hospitals can resume providing scheduled surgeries — which reflects current confidence in the capacity of the statewide system. However, he emphasized that “we will be very thoughtful and judicious about how we do that. We will not overload the system.”
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“We recognize that anytime we begin to toggle back and start opening things back up we have to look every day at the data … to make sure that we are adjusting to these new decisions and maintaining an understanding that we need to be vigilant about the intended consequences of these decisions and the unintended consequences of these decisions,” he said.
