Public Health Reports 7 New Deaths and 439 New Positive Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 7 new deaths and 439 new cases of confirmed COVID-19. Today’s low number of new cases and deaths reflect both a lag in reporting and less testing availability over the holiday.

To date, Public Health has identified 249,241 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 6,036 deaths.

There are 942 people who are confirmed cases currently hospitalized and 33% of these people are in the ICU.  Testing results are available for more than 2,385,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive.

Of the seven new deaths reported today, three people that passed away (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) were over the age of 80 years old, one person who died was between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and three people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old. All seven people had underlying health conditions.

Ninety-two percent of the people who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 5,677 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 51% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 24% among White residents, 15% among Asian residents, 10% 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, 19 cases and one death reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

“To the family and friends of people who have passed away from COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We thank everyone who modified their holiday plans and actions to avoid exposures to COVID-19.  As we prepare for schools re-opening to provide services for high need students that require in-person support, we all must do our very best to minimize participating in non-essential activities that create risk of virus transmission.  L.A. County is still among the California counties with high rates of community transmission. Before we get into cooler weather and flu season, we need to significantly lower the number of new cases. This is the only path forward that allows us to get more students back to school and reopen more business sectors.”

Because the current combination of fire, smoke, and the high temperatures create conditions that are unhealthy, Public Health urges all individuals in impacted areas to avoid unnecessary outdoor exposure and to limit physical exertion and to also try to keep indoor air as clean as possible by keeping windows and doors closed as much as possible. If it is too hot during the day to keep doors or windows closed and you do not have an air conditioning unit that re-circulates indoor air, consider going to an air-conditioned place, such as a cooling center.

Cooling centers are open and safe places to go to avoid the extreme heat because every cooling center adheres to all Public Health COVID-19 directives and offer a protected place for people to go.  Residents who have limited ability to remain cool and safe from the high temperatures are encouraged to take advantage of these free cooling centers. To find a location near you, visit https://ready.lacounty.gov/heat/ or call 211.

The Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Data Dashboard, Recovery Metrics, 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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