Public Health Sees Steady Decline in COVID-19 Deaths Associated with Skilled Nursing Facilities

Public Health Reports 39 New Deaths and 1,165 New Positive Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 39 new deaths and 1,165 new cases of COVID-19. To date, Public Health identified 264,414 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 6,455 deaths.

Public Health is seeing a steady decline in COVID-19 deaths in skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County. Skilled nursing facility COVID-19-associated deaths peaked in the beginning of May with 190 deaths a week. By mid-September, deaths in skilled nursing facilities dropped to 22 a week. Skilled nursing facilities did not experience an increase in COVID-19 deaths in July and August as Los Angeles County did overall.

Public Health remains in regular contact with skilled nursing facilities and provides facilities with education, technical assistance, guidance, emergency supplies of personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 testing support. Public Health also continues to survey skilled nursing facilities in the County for compliance with mandated COVID-19 testing and reports of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks. All 341 skilled nursing facilities are conducting testing of residents and staff; between September 6 and September 12, 30,000 COVID-19 tests were completed among staff and residents. The percentage of residents that tested positive during this time period was 1.3% and for staff was .4%. Ninety-nine percent of skilled nursing facilities reported having adequate staffing and 94% reported having adequate PPE.  Out of the 341 facilities, 164 were reported as having one or more cases and 177 facilities reported no positive cases. Public Health continues to conduct on-site inspections at skilled nursing facilities that are reported to be in noncompliance with infection control practices, or those that have reports of noncompliance that caused serious harm or death to a resident. These inspections occur within 24 hours of reported complaints.

“Our hearts go out to the many families that have lost a love one to this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are acutely aware of the grief experienced by those who lost a family member living at a nursing home and we remain laser-focused on ensuring that we do everything we can to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in skilled nursing facilities. We know that whenever there is increased community transmission, residents and staff are vulnerable. We know what works to prevent the spread of COVD-19 at nursing homes and as we head into the fall and flu season, compliance with infection and adequate supplies of PPE will be critically important.”

Of the 39 new deaths reported today, 13 people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, 11 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 12 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Thirty-five people who died had underlying health conditions including 13 people over the age of 80, nine people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 12 people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old and one person between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

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 6,074 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 51% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% 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, 84 cases and seven deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Testing results are available for more than 2,592,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive.  There are 753 confirmed cases currently hospitalized and 28% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Public Health continues to encourage participation with case investigation and contact tracing efforts to help slow the spread of COVID-19.  To date, over 130,000 people who are or were positive for COVID-19 completed the case investigation interview process.  Over 78,000 of their close contacts or people that were exposed to the virus were contacted and completed interviews. Obtaining as much information as possible from people during the case investigation interview helps contain this virus and minimize outbreaks, and it is a crucial part of protecting the health of communities.

We encourage anyone who receives a call from Public Health to speak to our contact tracers. If a contact tracer calls, it will display on your phone as “LA Public Health” or as 833-641-0305.

Public Health has a dedicated call line for confirmed cases of COVID-19. If you are positive with COVID-19 and have not yet connected with a public health specialist or need more information on services, call toll-free at 1-833-540-0473. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue to call 211 for resources or more information.

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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