LA County Reports Highest Number of New Cases and Hospitalizations, Deaths Sharply Increase

73 New Deaths and 4,244 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 COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations reported in a day with 4,244 new cases and 2,103 people currently hospitalized.

Of the 2,103 people currently hospitalized, 27% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 19% are confirmed cases on ventilators.

Public Health has confirmed 73 new deaths of Covid-19. This is one of the highest number of new deaths reported in a day and may reflect a lag in the reporting of deaths over the weekend.

Of the 73 new deaths, 51 people who died were over the age of 65 years old, 19 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. Fifty-four people had underlying health conditions including 41 people over the age of 65 years old, 12 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person between the ages of 18 to 40 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

Testing results are available for over 1,387,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families that are mourning a loved one lost to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As a community, we must slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 in our hospitals and more untimely deaths. I urge you to wear a face covering, stay at home as much as possible, avoid close contact with people you don’t live with and wash your hands. Together, we can stop the spread of this deadly virus. Today’s numbers are alarming and unfortunately are the result of many businesses and individuals not adhering to the basic public health requirements of distancing and wearing face coverings.  We are just not able to continue on a recovery journey without everyone doing their part.  Keeping businesses open is only possible if we get back to slowing the spread. ”

To date, Public Health has identified 140,307 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,894 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,619 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 46% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 26% among White residents, 15% 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, 66 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents. Of the new cases reported today, 59% occurred among individuals under the age of 41 and the median age of new cases has dropped to 35.

The Los Angeles County Health Officer Order was modified yesterday to align with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directives to prevent more cases, more serious illnesses, increased hospitalizations and more deaths.

The Order requires the closure of the following sectors for all indoor operations:

• Gyms and Fitness Centers
• Places of Worship
• Indoor Protests
• Offices for Non-Critical Infrastructure Sectors as identified at covid19.ca.gov
• Personal Care Services(including nail salons, massage parlors, and tattoo parlors)
• Hair Salons and Barbershops
• Indoor Malls

Bars, indoor dining at restaurants, indoor museums, indoor operations at zoos and aquariums, and cardrooms and satellite wagering facilities remain closed and all events and gatherings unless specifically allowed by this Order remain prohibited.

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.

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.

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. 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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