Los Angeles County officials continue to report a decline in new coronavirus cases but say the emergence of a more transmissible, potentially more virulent variant underscores the importance of sticking with safety measures like masking and distancing. Los Angeles County has now recorded a total of 14 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, but experts have said there are likely more, as only a small portion of samples undergo the genetic sequencing necessary to determine the variant. The variant has also been reported in Alameda, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo and Yolo counties. Orange County has reported a similar downward trend, on Saturday recording 391 new cases of the virus, 44 deaths and 591 hospitalized patients, a decline of about 46% from two weeks before. The clinic, run in partnership with the state, was a satellite of the new mass vaccination site at Cal State Los Angeles, the union said in a news release.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 21, 2021 00:00 UTC