LA County Hits New High of COVID-19 Cases Reported in a Day

59 New Deaths and 4,592 New Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirms 59 new deaths and 4,592 new cases of COVID-19. This is the largest increase in new cases, surpassing the count from July 14. Over the last 48 hours there have been 7,350 new cases.

Of the 59 new deaths, 34 people who died were over the age of 65 years old and 20 people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old. Forty-eight people had underlying health conditions including 32 people over the age of 65 years old and 16 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Five deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health has identified 147,468 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,988 deaths.

Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,701 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 2% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 133 cases and seven deaths reported earlier were not LA County residents.

There are 2,173 confirmed cases currently hospitalized, 27% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 17% are confirmed cases on ventilators. Data shows younger people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old are being hospitalized at a higher rate than seen at any point in this pandemic.  They comprise of 20% of patients with COVID-19 currently hospitalized.

Testing results are available for over 1,440,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive.

“To the families that are grieving the loss of a loved one to COVID-19, we send you our deepest sympathies and prayers every day,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “This week we’ve hit concerning milestones. We have reported the most cases in a single day, the most hospitalizations and tragically high death numbers. Each case represents a person that is capable of, and in all probability is, infecting at least one other person. If you do the math, it is easy to see why the alarm.  In a matter of weeks, the 4,600 positive cases today could lead to over 18,000 infected people in a few weeks. And this is just from one day of new cases. Without aggressive action on the part of every person, we will not get back to slowing the spread.”

Business owners must take immediate action to implement strategies that protect workers and customers.   The Health Officer Order to close indoor operations at many businesses must be followed.

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.

Residents need to make sure they are also doing their part. Residents should always wear a face covering securely over their nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in their household when out in public and wash hands frequently. Everyone should avoid the Three Cs: Crowded places, Confined spaces and Close contact with others not in your household.  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. If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist 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 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: