Iris Lee

Officials are grappling with whether to allow businesses to resume operations or risk public outcry by tempering reopening efforts.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are beginning to tick up in places such as Ventura and Orange counties, leading officials in some areas to slow reopening.

“At this point, it would be foolhardy to just open up and continue to open up,” the county’s public health officer said Tuesday.

As the economy reopens, coronavirus cases are beginning to rise

Experts are worried about the potential for new surges of disease as California reopens.

Three months into California’s battle with the coronavirus, there are growing signs that the outbreak is ebbing even as the state death toll continues to climb past 3,400.

Mirroring a trend seen nationally, California has not seen a dramatic and sustained decline in deaths over the past month, a Los Angeles Times analysis has found.

Experts attribute a rising forecast of coronavirus-linked deaths to the public growing more weary of stay-at-home orders and moves to roll them back.

Two weeks ago, California reported its highest one-week toll — 542 fatalities among people infected with the coronavirus. Last week, the weekly death toll dropped 9% to 495.

A Los Angeles Times data analysis found the weekly death toll fell nearly 9% for the seven-day period that ended Sunday.