While COVID-19 cases have been coming down in Los Angeles County, public health officials say it is too soon to know whether the latest surge has peaked.
“We’re certainly not seeing a significant decline. We’re seeing some, I would define, as more stabilizing. And we have a lot of risk right now,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
According to Ferrer, the highly contagious Delta variant continues to dominate cases in L.A. County. Plus, there is more mingling among people as workplaces and schools reopen. Ferrer also noted that with testing going up, there may have been delays in processing lab reports, which could result in the underreporting of cases.
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“With increased routine screening testing over the weeks ahead, I do think that our case numbers will remain relatively high,” said Ferrer.
L.A. County reported another 31 deaths on Thursday, raising the overall deaths in the county from COVID-19 to 25,181. Another 3,226 cases were also reported.
The county recently started providing third-dose shots to some immunocompromised people. Still, overall demand for vaccine shots appears to be creeping down.
The latest data reported is for last week, so it is still unclear how full authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shot, which was granted on Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will affect demand. At least 55 percent of county residents have been fully vaccinated.