COVID hospitalizations tick upward in LA County – Daily News

The number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals has climbed by 23 people to 373, departing from the recent trend that’s seen the total fall from over 4,800 in mid-January, according to the latest state figures out Saturday, March 26.

The number of those patients in intensive care was 56, down by three from Friday’s total.

The latest numbers came as the county reported 789 new positive COVID tests and 22 additional deaths associated with the virus, bringing the county’s cumulative totals to 2,830,048 cases and 31,594 deaths, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The health department has said that the vast majority of people who die of COVID complications have underlying conditions, mainly hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 0.7% as of Saturday, roughly the same as it has been for the past two weeks.

On Thursday, the department reported an uptick in COVID infections attributed to the BA.2, an offshoot of the Omicron variant that spurred a winter surge in cases and hospitalizations.

According to the county, the BA.2 sub-variant accounted for 14.7% of all specially sequenced cases from the week ending March 5 — more than double the 6.4% rate from the previous week. Experts have suggested that BA.2 is at least 30% more contagious than the Omicron variant, which was already substantially more easily spread than the original COVID-19 virus.

“As the county sees growing cases of the more-infectious BA.2 subvariant, everyone, especially those who are at elevated risk or homebound, should be fully vaccinated and boosted, and Public Health thanks our partners who are working to provide access to these life-saving vaccines for these at-risk residents,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement Friday.