The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 29,427 total cases of COVID-19 and 815 new cases as of Thursday. Since reporting of those numbers includes a lag time, it is quite possible that the total number of cases in L.A. County has topped 30,000.
L.A. County Director of Public Health Dr. Barbara Ferrer warned that as the county eases sequestration recommendations on Friday, those approximately 30,000 cases could grow quickly.
“If we don’t do this well,” Ferrer warned, “We might see that spike that we don’t want to see and we may have to revert to more restrictions.”
“It’s likely,” she continued, “because more people are about, that we may see more spread of the virus.” Even 2,500 new cases, the director said, would “overwhelm or start to overwhelm our hospital system.”
The county also confirmed 51 new deaths and 1,418 total deaths from the virus.
On Wednesday, following guidelines laid out by Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles County officials unveiled their incremental plan to reopen the region starting at the end of this week.
