Los Angeles County continued to level off in terms of new COVID infections and hospitalizations, but officials warned that the improvements do not mean the region has emerged from the surge that began in November.

The daily number of COVID-19 deaths reported by the county remains elevated, with 256 fatalities announced Friday. It was the third straight day the number topped 200, with 262 fatalities reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

The new deaths lifted the countywide death toll since the pandemic began to 14,894.

The county also reported another 9,277 cases, lifting the cumulative total to 1,054,802. Health officials noted Thursday that the average daily number of new cases had dropped 30% over the past week.

Most recent figures provided from the state showed 7,073 people hospitalized in the county, including 1,687 in intensive care. That’s a significant drop from the 8,000-plus patients that were reported in early January.

“We are also seeing a decline in hospitalizations and several other indicators we track, including test positivity rate, percentage of emergency department visits associated with COVID-19 and percentage of respiratory specimens positive for COVID at sentinel laboratory surveillance sites,” said Dr. Paul Simon, the county Department of Public Health’s chief science officer.

“However, despite these promising trends, I do want to emphasize that the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain far too high,” he said. “So while there’s reason to be hopeful, we all must remain vigilant and continue to be disciplined, wearing masks, physically distancing when outside the home, avoiding gatherings and washing our hands frequently.”