L.A. County coronavirus cases hit a record one-day high heading into July 4 weekend

Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday announced a record high number of coronavirus-related infections, recording 3,187 new cases Friday — the highest daily total since the pandemic began — and a three-day total of 7,232 infections and 30 related deaths, numbers that account for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week.

Bars and indoor dining remain off-limits as officials attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The number of hospital patients with confirmed coronavirus infections jumped 41% in the last three weeks, county data show. As of Saturday, there were 1,921 people hospitalized in L.A. County with confirmed COVID-19 cases; 28% of those people were in the ICU and 18% were on ventilators.

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L.A. County officials warned last week about “alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalization” and projected the possibility of running out of hospital beds in two to three weeks; the number of ICU beds could be exhausted sometime in July.

L.A. County has recorded a total of nearly 115,000 cases and almost 3,500 deaths.

Beaches were closed by local government officials in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to deter holiday weekend crowds. The warnings appeared to have an effect on residents, as beaches and parks were sparsely populated on Saturday.

“Thank you to everyone who modified their holiday plans to help us get back to the work of slowing the spread,” Barbara Ferrer, the county health director, said in a statement.

Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.