LOS ANGELES, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, reported zero death related to COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday, the first time there was no new death reported in two consecutive days since March 18, 2020.
However, public health officials warned that the low numbers likely reflected reporting delays over the weekend even though they regarded it as welcome news.
"This does represent a delay from the weekend," said county public health director Barbara Ferrer at Monday's briefing meeting about the numbers, "and we're hoping that the number of deaths does remain low."
According to the latest data released by the county's Public Health Department, 255 new infections were reported on Monday in the county, and the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the county with about 10 million residents dropped from 410 on Saturday to 390 on Monday.
In Los Angeles County,the number of daily deaths was over 200 in January and in the past year the region lost 23,914 lives to the fatal disease.
The county further eased its COVID-19 health restrictions on Monday, allowing indoor playgrounds and arcades to reopen at limited capacity, while lifting restrictions on operating hours for bars, breweries and wineries.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also said on Monday that the state's number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations was at an all-time low.
