In Los Angeles, the stay-at-home orders, which were initially issued in March and still in place, are expected to extend for another three months, according to the county’s top public health official Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

On Tuesday, Dr. Ferrer said during a Board of Supervisors conference, “Our hope is that by using the data, we’d be able to slowly lift restrictions over the next three months.”

She added that the stay-at-home orders would only be amended if there was a “dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand.”

So far, more than 240,000 residents of L.A. County have been checked for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus and over 32,000 have tested positive.

The number of confirmed cases and deaths in Los Angeles continues to rise. However, in other regions in California, the numbers have declined.

On Monday, the county’s public health official reported 566 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 39 deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,570.

All residents of L.A. County, irrespective of symptoms, are tested for free at certain sites run by the city.

However, county officials have said they are planning to reopen beaches as early as Wednesday morning, with certain restrictions.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said the nation does not have the outbreak “completely under control.”

He said the U.S. coronavirus death toll is “likely higher” than the reported total of 80,000.

Dr. Fauci also talked about the feasibility of students potentially returning to colleges in August, which is now a significant concern in Los Angeles.

The NIAID head said, “The idea of having treatments available, or a vaccine, to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something of a bit of a bridge too far.” In the United States, COVID-19 has, so far, sickened more than 1.4 million people and killed over 83,000 people.