L.A. County officials provide latest updates on COVID-19 pandemic

Los Angeles County health officials are holding a 1 p.m. briefing Monday to provide the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic.

The region has seen dropping coronavirus infection and hospitalization rates as vaccinations ramp up, triggering recent reopenings across several sectors.

With residents once again able to gather in small numbers, dine and exercise indoors, and watch movies in theaters, officials have been urging residents to remain steadfast in following infection control protocols, like wearing masks and avoiding crowds.

The county’s health department recorded 438 new cases and 20 deaths Sunday, continuing a decline in numbers that keeps the county on a path to move into the less-restrictive orange tier of the state’s four-tier, color-coded reopening plan in April.

While daily reported COVID-19 case and death numbers have decreased since the winter surge, officials say young people still account for the majority of recent infections, as older residents see more deaths.

“Though we are making good progress in our vaccination efforts, we are entering a potentially perilous time if people let their guard down,” L.A. County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said over the weekend.

The pace of vaccinations has sped up statewide, with California seeing a record-setting number of doses administered last week. The state’s most populous county, Los Angeles has given out the most doses, according to state data.

As of Friday, more than 3.2 million people in the county had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 1 million fully vaccinated.

The county was anticipating to get another 280,000 vaccine doses this week, with supplies expected to increase over the next few weeks as the county begins getting larger quantities of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“In a sense it is a bit of a race,” said Dr. Paul Simon, the county’s chief science officer. “We are trying to vaccinate as quickly as possible to slow further spread of these variants.”

Check back for the latest updates on this developing story.