New COVID-19 cases rise 165% in L.A. County – CBS Los Angeles

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Los Angeles (CBSLA) – A highly contagious delta variant has caused COVID-19 infections to spike again in Los Angeles County.

On Thursday, public health officials reported 839 new cases of COVID-19, which is a 165% increase from last week. Test positivity doubled to 2.5%, and the rate of new daily cases is 3.47 per 100,000 residents, up from 1.74 last week. Another 11 deaths were also reported.

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Across the state, cases have also been filed. California’s 7-day positivity rate has risen steadily since mid-June, and is now at 2.1%. The California Department of Public Health also reported 1,416 new confirmed cases on Wednesday.

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The cause of the recent surge in cases was the highly contagious Delta variant, which public health officials say has become the most frequently identified strain of coronavirus in the state. Although there have been some sudden infections in vaccinated people, most of the new infections were among the unvaccinated population.

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California has vaccinated 50% of its entire population, but public health officials worry that the delta variant will continue to spread through pockets of unvaccinated communities and shift even further. In Los Angeles County, 60,000 doses are distributed weekly, far from the winter/spring peak of about 500,000 doses per week. At the current pace of vaccinations, Los Angeles County won’t meet its goal of vaccinating 80% of the eligible population age 16 or older with at least one dose until October.

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