The city-run testing facility at Dodger Stadium was closed Monday. City officials were not immediately available to comment on whether it would be reopened.
Los Angeles County officials on Monday reported an additional 1,584 COVID-19 cases and 48 related deaths, raising the county’s death toll to more than 3,500.
The grim milestone comes as the number of coronavirus infections continues to increase across the state. Amid the spike, California is monitoring additional counties for surges in cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
San Diego, Marin, Madera and Colusa counties have been added to the state’s watch list, which now includes 23 of California’s 58 counties that have been flagged for not meeting the state’s objectives in curtailing the spread of the virus. The other counties on the list are: Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.
The entire state is continuing to see a rise in the number of infections, which according to the Los Angeles Times tracker, has surpassed 265,000. The death toll, too, is increasing, with more than 6,400 deaths reported as of Monday.
The rate of deaths has not increased at the same speed as the number of cases and hospitalizations, however. Officials say that’s partly because new cases are now skewing more heavily toward younger people, and fewer deaths are being reported in congregate settings, such as nursing homes, that were once hot spots for the virus.
But it’s possible the toll will spike again.
“Deaths will often lag behind slightly as much as at one to three weeks,” Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer said, noting that those who have died are often sick or hospitalized for weeks before they succumb to the illness.
