LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County is reporting 436 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths, though health officials said the numbers likely reflect reporting delays over the holiday weekend.

Hospitalizations in the county due to COVID-19 dropped from 284 to 273, with the number of COVID patients in ICU units declining from 77 to 65, according to state figures.

Monday's figures brought the county's totals to 1,252,739 cases and 24,504 fatalities since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The county's rate of infections has grown alarmingly over the past several days. Health officials say the increase is being fueled by the rise in COVID-19 variants, particularly the more contagious Delta variant. They added that with 4 million residents in L.A. County still unvaccinated and a tripling of cases over the past week, there is enough risk for the variant to pose a significant threat.

The variant is believed to be responsible for more than 26% of current COVID infections in the United States and is also blamed for rampant infections in India and parts of the United Kingdom.

It has also become California's most identified strain of the coronavirus, accounting for 35.6% of the variants analyzed in June – a steep increase from May, when the number was just 5.6%, according to the California Department of Public Health.

"We are grateful to everyone for the tremendous progress we have made over the past year, yet we are not out of the woods just yet," Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said over the weekend.

"If you plan to gather with others this holiday, please take sensible precautions to avoid transmission of the virus, particularly if you are gathering with individuals and children not yet vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, consider getting your vaccination now to increase your protection as other public health precautions have been lifted; talk to a friend or loved one who has been vaccinated and ask them about their experience. Vaccines provide us with the best tool for ending this pandemic that has plagued us for so many months."