The number of coronavirus patients at Los Angeles County hospitals has increased by 34 to 1,205, according to the latest state numbers.
Of those patients hospitalized as of Saturday, 123 were being treated in intensive care, down from 131 the previous day.
Health officials have said previously that roughly 40% of the patients were actually admitted for COVID-related issues, while the rest were admitted for other reasons but tested positive at the hospital.
The latest figures came one day after local health officials reported another 4,744 COVID-19 infections, continuing a surge in daily cases that could soon lead to a renewed requirement for people to wear masks at all indoor public spaces.
Those new cases reported Friday gave the county a cumulative total from throughout the pandemic of 3,552,019, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Another 14 deaths were also reported Friday, raising the cumulative death toll to 34,213.
The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 12.2% as of Friday.
The county has been logging steady increases in daily infections and hospitalizations since the beginning of November. As of Friday, the county’s average daily number of new infections over the past seven days was 3,053, up from 2,121 a week ago.
The average daily nu …