The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County has dropped below 1,000 for the first time in two months — underscoring the region's slow but steady progress in turning the tide of the latest coronavirus surge. On Tuesday, 991 coronavirus-positive patients were receiving hospital care countywide. That's down about 40% from the start of September, state data show. In mid-August — the height of the current Delta-variant-fueled wave — nearly 1,800 people countywide were hospitalized with COVID-19 on some days. The region has also seen a significant decline in the number of people ill enough to require intensive care. As of Tuesday, 305 patients were in intensive care units throughout the county, a 31% drop since the beginning of the month. California How California turned the tide and achieved the lowest coronavirus transmission rate in the U.S. While California has not reinstituted sweeping restrictions, the state and many local health departments have taken steps to tackle the Delta variant. Sept. 21, 2021 California's most populous county both reflects and dictates the pandemic's statewide trajectory. Statewide, 5,986 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized Tuesday, a 28% drop since the start of the month. But that top-level trend is not reality in every corner of California. Some hospitals in the state's Central Valley continue to be deluged with COVID-19 patients. Health officials have reported that some critically ill people have had to wait days to be transferred into the intensive care unit from the emergency room. And some facilities in Fresno County have been perilously close to having to ration healthcare because of limited resources and personnel. Throughout the wider San Joaquin Valley — which the state defines as Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties — hospitals have reported having fewer than 10% of their cumulative staffed adult ICU beds available for 22 straight days. "We're still just right there where we're looking at things on a day-by-day, and even hour-by-hour, basis to see how we can match the resources with the needs," Fresno County interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra said at a news conference last week. The four other state-outlined regions — Northern California, the Bay Area, Greater Sacramento and Southern California — all had at least 15.8% of their staffed adult ICU beds available as of Tuesday. California Critically ill COVID-19 patients waiting days for ICU beds in Central California One Fresno area hospital had nine critically ill patients who weren't able to get into the intensive care unit for more than three days.