LOS ANGELES: Public health officials in Los Angeles, the most populous county in the US, have reported a monthly increase of more than 500 per cent in the number of new coronavirus case.
On June 13, the five-day average of cases was 201, while the five-day average on Tuesday is 1,095, up 544.8 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as saying on Wednesday.
The test positivity rate has increased nearly 700 per cent from the 0.5 per cent seen a month ago to Tuesday’s 3.4 per cent, according to the Department. The Department confirmed 1,103 new cases and 12 new deaths in the past 24 hours. It’s the fifth day in a row the county, home to over 10 million residents, has reported over 1,000 new cases amid spread of Delta variant in the region.
To date, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has identified 1,259,772 confirmed cases with 24,554 deaths since the pandemic began last year.
Officials noted earlier this month that the Delta variant has been the most commonly sequenced variant in Los Angeles County since the beginning of June. “The Covid-19 vaccines are the most powerful tool to reduce the risk of serious illness if infected. A significant number of unvaccinated people indoors, with a highly contagious Delta variant circulating, makes it easy for this variant to be transmitted at higher rates,” said the county’s Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer in the release.
She urged Los Angeles residents to get vaccinated without delay to have the best protection. Among residents aged 16 and above in Los Angeles County, 69 per cent have received at least one dose, and 61 per cent now have been fully vaccinated, official data showed.
