Seventy-six percent of the more than 3,600 cases of coronavirus reported Saturday in Los Angeles County are among people under the age of 50, according to the Department of Public Health.
The number of younger adults testing positive for the virus has risen significantly in the last month, making up more than half of new cases reported on several days. Health officials said Sunday that another 53 COVID-19 patients have died in addition to 3,628 more cases of the virus, which are particularly high due to reporting lags in the electronic lab system.
“Younger adults still make up the majority of new positive cases with 76% of new cases today occurring in people under 50 years old, of which 54% of new cases were among people under the age of 30,” the health department said in a statement.
Higher infection rates among younger adults has been one of the chief concerns of health officials in recent weeks as well as the climbing number of hospitalizations recorded daily.
That figure reached a record high Monday with 2,232 patients confirmed to have COVID-19 being hospitalized. County health officials said last week that while hospitalization rates are still rising, they’re increasing at a less rapid rate compared to the first weeks of July.
Officials reported 2,016 hospitalizations Sunday. If unconfirmed but suspected cases of coronavirus are also included, that number could be as high as 2,598.
