by Steven Felschundneff | steven@claremont-courier.com

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recorded 4,211 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, December 14, but the positivity rate and the number of people hospitalized with the virus are both largely unchanged from a week ago.

Public health reports the daily positivity rate on Wednesday was 11.8% compared to 11.5% on December 7, which officials say is a good indicator the local surge of coronavirus cases is leveling off.

Although the number of Covid positive people hospitalized can vary widely, that too appears to have stabilized at roughly 1,300 patients over the past week, with a low of 1,180 December 11 and a high of 1,306 December 8. Los Angeles County reported 16 new deaths on December 14 for a cumulative total mortality of 34,368 countywide.

In Claremont the county recorded 90 new cases in the past week for a cumulative total of 9,583. There were no new deaths reported in Claremont, which has a total mortality of 100.