Public Health Announces $15 Million Allocated to Childcare for Essential Workers and Low-Income Families

91 New Deaths and 4,825 New Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, High Number of New Deaths and New Cases of COVID-19 Partly Due to Backlog of Reports

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 91 new deaths and 4,825 new cases of COVID-19.  The high number of new deaths are from a backlog of reports received from over the weekend.  The high number of new cases are, in part, due to a backlog of over 2,000 results received from Thursday through Sunday.

There are 2,045 confirmed cases currently hospitalized and 28% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU. There are a total of 2,599 confirmed and suspect cases that are currently hospitalized and 17% of these people are on ventilators.  The hospitalization data is missing data from three hospitals not included in today’s update.

Public Health is pleased to announce that the Board of Supervisors allocated $15 million in CARES Act funding for childcare vouchers to serve essential workers and low-income families in the County.  In partnership with the Los Angeles County Early Childhood Education COVID-19 Response Team, Public Health will support the funding distribution.

The Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education will contract with the Child Care Alliance, a network of LA County Resource and Referral /Alternative Payment agencies, to distribute vouchers.  To expedite the process, the funding will be infused into the existing voucher system. Families seeking early care and education services may access vouchers by calling 888-92-CHILD (888-922-4453). Eligibility for these vouchers is set by the state.

Public Health is reporting one additional case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).  This brings the total cases of MIS-C in LA County to 16 children. Ten of these cases are among girls. The majority of cases (73%) were Latino/Latinx. No children with MIS-C in LA County have died.

MIS-C is a condition that has been affecting children under 21 years old across the country who may have been exposed to COVID-19 or had COVID-19. Different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs and there can be lifelong health impacts.

“To those grieving the loss of a loved one to COVID-19, I send my heartfelt condolences. My heart and  blessings also go out to the many people who are suffering with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “I know that we’re all eager and anxious to see our lives return to normal. We want our children to be back at school, seeing their friends and making cherished memories. We have the tools at hand to make this happen. We need compliance with our directives – so please continue to wear a face covering and do not gather with people you don’t live with.”

The Governor has allowed local health officers the discretion to grant waivers to school districts and private schools that would permit schools to reopen for in-classroom instruction for students in grades TK through grade 6. Superintendents must submit school district waiver requests to re-open for approval by the local health officer.  The decision to grant a waiver will be based on ensuring that schools are able to open in full adherence with the L.A. County school re-opening protocols, along with reviewing epidemiological data for each school district. The process requires consultation with the California Department of Public Health prior to accepting or rejecting waiver applications. The application process will be available online and is planned to be launched by the end of the week.

To date, Public Health has identified 183,383 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 4,516 deaths.  Public Health anticipates continuing to receive a backlog of lab reports in the coming days due to problems with the state electronic lab reporting system.

Testing results are available for nearly 1,683,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive.

Of the 91 new deaths reported today, 31 people that passed away (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) were over the age of 80 years old, 27 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 17 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, seven people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and three people who died were between the ages of 18 and 29. Seventy-two people had underlying health conditions including 28 people over the age of 80 years old, 22 people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 14 people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, six people between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and two between the ages of 18 and 29 years old. Five deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.  Upon further investigation, 84 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents.

Ninety-two percent of people who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 4,233 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 48% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 25% 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.

Death rates by race and ethnicity show stark inequities between African American/Black and Latino/Latinx residents and White residents. Latino/Latinx residents have the highest rates of death, with a rate of 58 residents per 100,000 population. This is almost two and a half times the rate of death compared to White residents. Similarly, the rate for African American/Black residents is 49 deaths per 100,000 population, equal to twice the rate for White residents.

The differences by poverty rate are also startling. Those who live in areas with the highest rates of poverty are more than four times more likely to die of COVID-19 compared to those who live in low-poverty areas.  These differences are unjust and unacceptable, and we must continue to address the deep-rooted issues that are at the heart of this burden on our Black and Brown and low-income residents continue to face.

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: