L.A. County reports 48 new COVID-19 deaths and 600-plus additional cases

Los Angeles County reported 48 new deaths and 607 additional cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. Long Beach, which has its own health department, reported 26 new cases, bringing the county total to 895 deaths and more than 19,100 cases.

“This past week in L.A. County, we doubled the number of deaths from COVID-19 and diagnosed more than 7,000 new cases,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

Of the people who most recently died, 37 were older than 65, and nine were ages 41-65, officials said. Thirty-eight had underlying health conditions.

“Because we are still seeing a significant increase in new cases and deaths, we ask that you continue to stay home as much as possible,” Ferrer said.

After appearing to level off for a time, the number of COVID-19 cases reported by the county has risen at a rapid clip over the past week.

Some of that is due to increased testing, as well as the clearing of a backlog of pending test results, officials said.

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As of Saturday, nearly 114,000 people had been tested and received their results, with about 15% of them testing positive.

The number of deaths also has surged.

On Thursday, COVID-19 became the leading cause of death in L.A. County, surpassing fatalities from cancer, flu, emphysema and heart disease.

Amid the continued increases, temperatures have risen, with the region experiencing the year’s first major heat wave. Officials urged people to refrain from escaping the heat by heading to the county’s beaches, which remain closed.

“Continue to do your part and save lives,” Ferrer said. “This is how we get to the other side of the outbreak and begin our recovery.”