Long Beach on Tuesday reported 100 new cases of coronavirus and two additional deaths, continuing a recent uptick that will likely keep the city and county in the most restrictive category of business closures for the next several weeks.

The city has now had a total of 13,148 cases and 257 deaths since the pandemic began in March. On Tuesday, its positivity rate among those who are tested rose to 3.7% and its rate of cases rose to eight per 100,000 residents. The state allows an average of no more than seven cases per 100,000 residents for two weeks before the city and county can move to open more businesses.

County health officials, meanwhile, are urging the public not to gather in large groups or even at people’s homes, particularly as the Dodgers play Game 6 of the World Series Tuesday night.

“We have a lot to celebrate in the county, and it is critical that we all take action to slow the spread as we do,” the county’s health officer Dr. Muntu Davis said in a statement.

Davis did not point to any specific examples—such as a thousands-strong gathering of Laker fans in downtown Los Angeles following the team’s NBA title win—but referenced only “private gatherings and public celebrations.”

The county and city of Long Beach recently amended their health orders to set guidelines for small private gatherings, which were previously barred. The updated guidance allows for gatherings of members of up to three households, but such get-togethers must be held outdoors with face coverings and physical distancing.

Earlier Monday, county public health director Barbara Ferrer reported a disturbing increase in average daily coronavirus cases. She said daily virus cases were averaging about 940 per day in early October, but in the past week, the average has been almost 1,200 per day.

Similarly, just last week, Long Beach had seven-day average case rates of about 6.5 per 100,000 residents until this week’s rise in new infections.

Ferrer pointed directly to sports viewing as a driver of case increases, saying the spikes “do correspond with gatherings happening more frequently as people come together with non-household members to watch games.”

And it wasn’t just the Lakers or the Clippers, she noted: “We now have football games that are happening and of course we’ve had the Dodgers in post-season for quite a few weeks already.”

With younger residents driving the county’s new case increases, Ferrer said gatherings of sports fans appear to be “contributing the most” to the spike.

The county on Monday reached a pair of grim milestones, with virus deaths reaching the 7,000 mark and the total number of cases topping 300,000.

Ferrer said the increase in the average daily number of new cases is “a cause for concern,” and it is preventing the county from advancing in the state’s economic-reopening matrix—meaning more delays in reopening more businesses.

“This is a call to everyone—individuals and businesses—to understand the increases we’re discussing today are the results of decisions we collectively made two to three weeks ago,” Ferrer said. “And the actions we’re taking today will influence whether we’re able to continue our recovery journey, or we stall or even take steps backward. We do need to slow the transmission to allow for economic recovery.”

City News Service contributed to this report.