The Sun (San Bernardino)

New Inland Empire cases hold steady. L.A. County warns public to avoid travel and gatherings during spring break.

L.A. County warns public to avoid travel, gatherings during spring break

- By Deepa Bharath and Nikie Johnson Staff writers

The Inland Empire continues to see improvemen­ts in COVID-19 new case numbers and hospitaliz­ations, but L.A. County officials are warning the public to avoid gatherings and travel as spring break approaches.

San Bernardino County reached a grim pandemic milestone Thursday by topping 3,000 coronaviru­s deaths. County officials reported 63 deaths, which took the number of COVID19-related fatalities to 3,022. The county recorded its first virus death March 24, 2020; its 1,000th almost seven months later, on Oct. 18; and its 2,000th fatality Feb. 4 — exactly one month before Thursday, when the 3,000th death was reported.

The current death toll seems higher because of the lag time between when people die and when their death gets added to the county’s data. Of the 148 deaths the county has reported in March, 21 victims died in February, 70 in January and 52 in December. The rest died in November or earlier, county data shows.

Also Thursday, the county recorded 191 new cases and 254 hospitaliz­ed patients, including 63 in intensive care units.

In Riverside County, officials Thursday reported 246 new cases and 35 deaths. The overall case positivity rate remains at 5.8%. State data also showed that, as of

Wednesday, there were 303 virus patients hospitaliz­ed, including 68 in intensive care units.

Los Angeles County officials reported 2,161 new cases and 104 deaths. State data shows 1,341 patients are hospitaliz­ed, including 429 in intensive care units. L.A. County officials are also discouragi­ng people from traveling or gathering in groups during spring break. Though cases and hospitaliz­ations have decreased, transmissi­on of the virus remains widespread in the county, officials said.

Here are the latest numbers as of Thursday, according to state and county public health officials.

San Bernardino County

Confirmed cases: 287,246 total, up 191 from Wednesday, averaging 273 reported per day in the past week

Deaths: 3,022 total, up 63 from Wednesday, averaging 49.9 reported per day in the past week

Hospital survey: 254 confirmed and 31 suspected patients hospitaliz­ed Wednesday, including 63 confirmed and no suspected patients in ICUs, with 24 of 25 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is down 31.5% from a week earlier.

Tests: 2,500,799 total, no change from Wednesday, averaging 8,440 reported per day in the past week

Resolved cases (estimate): 287,246 total, up 5,224 from Wednesday, averaging 1,002 per day in the past week

Vaccinatio­ns: 393,171 vaccine doses, including 268,042 first doses, have been administer­ed to San Bernardino County residents.

Reopening plan tier: purple (widespread risk level; many nonessenti­al indoor business operations are closed) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:

• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 9.1

• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 9

• Test positivity rate: 4.4% (5.2% in socioecono­mically disadvanta­ged neighborho­ods)

• What’s next: To advance to the red tier and reopen more businesses, San Bernardino County would need an adjusted case rate of 7 or below and both positivity rates below 8% for two consecutiv­e weeks.

Riverside County

Confirmed cases: 290,744 total, up 246 from Wednesday, averaging 223 reported per day in the past week

Deaths: 3,884 total, up 35 from Wednesday, averaging 19.3 reported per day in the past week

Hospital survey: 303 confirmed and 43 suspected patients hospitaliz­ed Wednesday, including 68 confirmed and three suspected patients in ICUs, with 20 of 21 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is down 20.5% from a week earlier.

Tests: 2,513,395 total, up 10,163 from Wednesday, averaging 8,189 reported per day in the past week

Recovered cases: 277,940 total, up 799 from Wednesday, averaging 1,237 per day in the past week

Vaccinatio­ns: The county says 547,805 doses have been administer­ed to residents as of Thursday.

Reopening plan tier: purple (widespread risk level; many nonessenti­al indoor business operations are closed) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:

• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 11

• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 11.3

• Test positivity rate: 5.8% (6.1% in socioecono­mically disadvanta­ged neighborho­ods)

• What’s next: To advance to the red tier and reopen more businesses, Riverside County would need an adjusted case rate of 7 or below and both positivity rates below 8% for two consecutiv­e weeks.

Los Angeles County

Confirmed cases: 1,198,178 total, up 2,161 from Wednesday, averaging 1,519 reported per day in the past week

Deaths: 21,780 total, up 104 from Wednesday, averaging 96 reported per day in the past week

Hospital survey: 1,341 confirmed and 182 suspected patients hospitaliz­ed Wednesday, including 429 confirmed and 19 suspected patients in ICUs, with 91 of 92 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is down 28.9% from a week earlier.

People tested: About 5,866,000 total, up about 6,000 from Wednesday, averaging 9,000 reported per day in the past week

Vaccinatio­ns: The county says 1.96 million doses, including 600,497 second doses, have been administer­edasofFeb.25.

Reopening plan tier: purple (widespread risk level; many nonessenti­al indoor business operations are closed) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:

• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 9.7

• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 7.2

• Test positivity rate: 3.5% (5.1% in socioecono­mically disadvanta­ged neighborho­ods)

• What’s next: To advance to the red tier and reopen more businesses, L.A. County would need an adjusted case rate of 7 or below and both positivity rates below 8% for two consecutiv­e weeks.

This includes the latest numbers from L.A. County Public Health as well as Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health department­s and are typically at least a day ahead of the county in reporting their cities’ cases and deaths.

 ?? WATCHARA PHOMICINDA STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? San Bernardino County surpassed 3,000 coronaviru­srelated deaths Thursday, though lags in accounting mean many occurred weeks or months ago.
WATCHARA PHOMICINDA STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER San Bernardino County surpassed 3,000 coronaviru­srelated deaths Thursday, though lags in accounting mean many occurred weeks or months ago.

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