Los Angeles County reports over 3,000 new COVID-19 cases; more than 10,000 in last four days

Los Angeles County on Friday reported 3,058 new cases of COVID-19, marking the third day in a row where more than 2,500 new cases were reported in a single day. According to health officials, over the last four days, the county has reported more than 10,000 new cases.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County on Friday reported 3,058 new cases of COVID-19, marking the third day in a row where more than 2,500 new cases were reported in a single day. According to health officials, over the last four days, the county has reported more than 10,000 new cases.

There are 655 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized; an increase of more than 200 people in one week, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Last Friday, there were 452 people hospitalized with COVID-19 illness.

"If we didn’t have 5.3 million people fully vaccinated in L.A. County, we would probably be seeing almost double the number of cases today," warned Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, as she encouraged more residents to get vaccinated.

Friday's test positivity rate is 5.2%, an increase from last Friday’s rate of 4.0%.

As transmission accelerates in LA County, public health officials cautioned that unvaccinated people are becoming infected at 2.7 times the rate of transmission of just one month ago.

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"If you are eligible for a vaccine but have not yet been vaccinated, consider getting vaccinated now. Fully vaccinated people remain well protected from severe illness and death from COVID-19 and known variants of concern like the Delta variant," Public Health wrote in a statement.

COVID-19 cases continues to surge across Southern California

Health officials and researchers are raising the red flags as Californians are spotted letting their guards down during the pandemic.

Of the seven new deaths reported Friday, one person who passed away was over the age of 80, one person who passed was between the ages of 65 and 79, and four people who passed were between the ages of 50 and 64. One death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Since the start of the pandemic, Public Health has identified 1,279,171 positive cases of COVID-19 among LA County residents and a total of 24,614 deaths.

More than 7,230,000 individuals in the county have been tested for COVID-19 with 16% of people testing positive.