L.A. County Sees Highest Number of New Cases of COVID-19 Partly Due to Backlog of Test Results, Hospitalizations Steadily Increase

46 New Deaths and 4,015 New Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirms the highest number of new cases of COVID-19 reported in a day with 4,015 new cases. The high number of cases are, in part, due to a backlog of about 2,000 test results received from one lab who just submitted lab results from July 2 through July 5 today.

Testing results are available for over 1,213,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive. The daily positivity rate (a composite of a 7-day rolling average) has risen to 11.6%

There are 1,969 people currently hospitalized, 27% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 18% are confirmed cases on ventilators. This remains substantially higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen three weeks ago. The number of daily of hospitalizations has steadily increased to over 1,900 since July 1.

“Every single person we have lost to COVID-19 was someone’s parent, sibling, friend and neighbor,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Our actions have consequences and they affect real people in our community. Choosing to not practice physical distancing or objecting to wearing cloth face coverings when around others can be a life-altering decision. Everyone shares the collective responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 to save lives.”

In addition to the 4,015 new cases, Public Health has confirmed 46 new deaths of COVID-19. Twenty-eight people who died were over the age of 65 years old, 10 people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and five people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Thirty-four people had underlying health conditions including 24 people over the age of 65 years old, 7 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and three people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 120,539 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,579 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,327 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 44% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 27% among White residents, 16% 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, 46 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents.

Public Health urges everyone to avoid the Three Cs: Crowded places, Confined spaces and Close contact with others not in your household. Everyone should always wear a face covering securely over your nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out in public. Businesses must continue to follow Public Health directives.  Public Health reminds everyone that you remain safer at home.

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.

Please see additional information below: