Los Angeles County Announces 42 New Deaths Related to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

2,012 New Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 42 new deaths and 2,012 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Thirty-one people who died were over the age of 65 years old, eight people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Thirty people had underlying health conditions including 24 people over the age of 65 years old and six people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 91,467 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,246 deaths. Ninety-four percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,021 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 43% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 35 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents. There are 1,633 people who are currently hospitalized, 25% of these people are in the ICU and 18% are on ventilators.

Public Health continues to assess key recovery indicators to understand how COVID-19 is affecting communities and capacity to treat people who may become seriously ill. And while Los Angeles County continues to see a decline in average daily deaths, the rate of death exposes significant disproportionality. Latinos/Latinx now have the highest mortality rate at 38 deaths per 100,000 people and African Americans/Blacks continue to have a high mortality rate at 37 deaths per 100,000 people. The mortality rate for Asians is 25 deaths per 100,000 people and for Whites is 19 per 100,000 people. People who live in communities with the highest rates of poverty have a mortality rate of 64 per 100,000 people, four times higher than people living in communities with the lowest rate of poverty (16%). Although, Public Health is seeing significant increases in hospitalizations, capacity in intensive care units and the supply of ventilators remain stable. The County also has retained the capacity to test more than 15,000 people each day.

“To the people across our communities who are mourning their loved one lost to COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are at an important moment in our COVID-19 recovery journey. For the last few weeks businesses and public spaces have reopened, and many more people have been out and around others.  As you may be aware, the data is now showing concerning trends. This week we have seen cases increase, hospitalizations increase, and the positivity rate for testing increase.  We also know that the average age of the people who are infected, including those who are newly infected, is trending younger than before.  We all need to do better because we can only be safer in the community if we follow the very specific guidelines Public Health has mandated.”

Throughout the pandemic and before, Public Health receives and responds to complaints about retail businesses and restaurants. During the months of May and June, the majority of complaints have been about masks and face coverings and businesses not having protocols in place and posted. Prior to onsite dining being permitted, inspectors visited retailers who were permitted to open for curbside pickup and eventually in-store sales. Over the weekends of May 16 and May 24, inspectors visited 2,305 retailers that were allowing curbside pickup and provided assistance with reopening protocols for 1,506 (65%) of these retailers. Since May 29, inspectors have been visiting restaurants to assist with compliance for on-site dining directives. Over the weekends of May 30, June 6 and June 13, inspectors visited 3,751 establishments, and provided information to 3,109 (83%). Public Health will continue to respond to complaints and monitor businesses for compliance with Health Officer Orders to keep employees, customers and residents as safe as possible.

Because increased contact with others not in your household results in increased risk of transmission of COVID-19, everyone must continue to follow distancing and infection control directives and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household. The best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing, and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household. It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results, to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside, or until they receive a negative result. If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a contact tracer to discuss how to protect themselves and others, to find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious. People who have underlying health conditions remain at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, so it will continue to be very important for the County’s vulnerable residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and medicine delivered, and to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

The Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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