The Los Angeles Post

Public Health Reports 26 New Deaths and 1,296 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

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Public Health Provides Guidance for Celebrating Halloween and
Dia de los Muertos

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 26 new deaths and 1,296 new cases of COVID-19.  To date, Public Health identified 306,327 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 7,056 deaths.

Testing results are available for over 3,101,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive. There are 743 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 30% of these people are in the ICU.

Public Health asks everyone to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos this weekend as carefully and as safely as possible as COVID-19 continues to spread in L.A. County. Public Health does not recommend trick-or-treating and trunk or treating this year, as participating in these activities increases the risk of exposure to the virus through communal food handling, crowding and mixing with non-household individuals. Safer options include participating in a virtual party, attending a drive-in event, driving around your neighborhood to see decorated houses, holding a scavenger hunt for treats at home, or attending a special Halloween drive-in movie. Carnivals, parties, festivals, live entertainment, and haunted house attractions are not safe this Halloween and are not permitted under the Health Officer Order.  For more info on celebrating Halloween and Dia de los Muertos safely, visit, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov

“We send our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As we head into the holiday weekend, please remember there is simply too much COVID-19 going around for us to let our guard down. The fewer people you and your household have in-person contact with, the lower your risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. For the County to continue on our recovery journey, many more of us need to get back to doing what we know works – and we need to stop engaging in activities that makes it easy for transmission of the virus.”

Activities that lead to virus transmission include gathering inside and being in crowds where people aren’t wearing face coverings and/or distancing.

Public Health continues to survey skilled nursing facilities in the County for compliance with mandated COVID-19 testing and reporting of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks. All 340 skilled nursing facilities in the County conduct weekly testing of residents and staff. For the week of October 17, more than 45,000 COVID-19 tests were completed among staff and residents. 174 people tested positive for COVID-19; there were 79 new cases among residents and 95 new cases among staff. Of the 340 facilities, 232 facilities reported no positive cases. All skilled nursing facilities reported having adequate staffing and 97% percent reported having adequate PPE.

Of the 26 new deaths reported today, seven people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, five people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, nine people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and five people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Twenty-four people who died had underlying health conditions including seven people over the age of 80, five people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, seven people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and five people between the ages of 30 and 49 years old.

Ninety-three 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 6,649 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 52% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 14% 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, 39 cases and 14 deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

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.