LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals tumbled below the 600 mark again Friday, but health officials continue to fret a possible surge in cases with the approaching winter holidays.

According to state figures, there were 584 COVID patients in county hospitals as of Friday, down from 611 on Thursday. Of those hospitalized, 144 were in intensive care, down from 148 a day earlier.

Another 26 COVID-19 deaths were reported Friday, giving the county a virus-related death toll of 26,973. The county Department of Public Health also announced 1,612 new infections, although 390 of those cases were the result of a backlog in positive test results, some of which dated back to November 2020.

The newly announced cases gave the county a cumulative total from throughout the pandemic of 1,516,901.

The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus also remained low, at 0.9%.

Health officials locally and nationally continue to fear a spike in cases with the upcoming winter holidays, and with colder weather leading to more indoor gatherings. 

On Thursday, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted that the county appears to have avoided any spike in cases following Halloween, attributing that success to higher numbers of vaccinated residents and other precautions.

But she said case numbers are rising in many Western states and in Europe, providing an early warning of what could lie ahead if people become lax about virus prevention.

On Friday, Ferrer urged residents to receive booster doses of vaccine.

"While the vaccines continue to provide significant protection against the virus, data now shows that the effectiveness of the vaccine declines enough over time that it is important to get an additional dose to have better protection against the virus," she said. "With booster doses currently available to anyone who received their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago, or received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago, it is important that healthcare workers and those they care for take advantage of easy access to these additional doses.

"With 4.8 million residents eligible for boosters, our hope is that many more individuals will be coming in for this additional dose before the Thanksgiving holiday."

Ferrer said Thursday that current figures show unvaccinated people are nine times more likely than vaccinated people to get infected, and 67 times more likely to be hospitalized. 

Ferrer said 82% of county residents aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and 73% are fully vaccinated. Of the county's overall population of 10.3 million people, 71% have received at least one dose, and 63% are fully vaccinated.

She said the number of people who received a first dose of vaccine in the past week jumped up sharply, due primarily to the expansion of vaccine availability to include children aged 5-11.

Black residents continue to have the lowest vaccination rates, at 54%, followed by Latina/o residents at 59%, whites at 72% and Asians at 80%.

Of the roughly 5.99 million residents who were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 16, 75,249 have subsequently tested positive for the virus, for a rate of 1.2