L.A. COVID-19 surge slowing, but cases likely to keep rising as school begins
LA TimesPedestrians with and without masks walk along the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica last week. The latest COVID-19 surge is showing some signs of slowing in Los Angeles County, but cases are likely to continue rising in the weeks ahead as the hyper-transmissible Delta variant continues to loom as a major threat, Los Angeles County’s top health official said Tuesday. During the week ending Sunday, the county reported a total of 20,979 new coronavirus cases — a modest 6.5% increase from the previous week’s total of 19,704. For the week ending Sunday, California outside L.A. County reported 55,422 total cases — a 20% increase from the week before, according to figures Ferrer presented. As of last week, the risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 in L.A. County was 19 times higher among those who are not fully vaccinated than it is for those who are, Ferrer said.