Los Angeles County reported 11 new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, Feb. 22, while the number of virus-positive hospital patients fell below 700.
The 11 new fatalities gave the county an overall death toll from the pandemic of 35,614.
The majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension.
Meanwhile, the county reported 1,419 new COVID infections Wednesday, lifting the cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 3,698,481.
The daily case numbers released by the county are undercounts of actual virus activity in the county, due to people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, and others who don’t test at all.
The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 6.8% as of Wednesday, roughly the same as the past week.
According to state figures, there were 698 COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals as of Wednesday, down from 714 on Saturday. Of those patients, 74 were being treated in intensive care, down from 82 on Saturday.
Some of the patients were hospitalized for other reasons and learned they had COVID upon admission.
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