Public Health Reports 23 New Deaths and 2,108 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County
Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Efforts Continue as New Cases Increase
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 23 new deaths and 2,108 new cases of COVID-19. This is the third consecutive day of new cases over 1,800 and the first time the number of new cases reached over 2,100 since mid-August. Over the last three days, there have been a total of 6,016 new cases reported.
As COVID-19 spread increases in L.A. County, Public Health urges participation with case investigation and contact tracing efforts. Obtaining as much information as possible from people who are positive during the case investigation interview helps contain the virus and minimize outbreaks. While contact tracing cannot slow this virus on its own, is a crucial part of protecting the health of communities. To date, more than 157,000 people who are or were positive for COVID-19 completed the case investigation interview process and more than 71,000 of their close contacts completed interviews.
Anyone who receives a positive lab result or has been exposed to someone with COVID-19, should expect a call from a Public Health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, how to isolate or quarantine, how to access services and providers, and to talk through other concerns or questions a case or contact may have. We encourage anyone who receives a call from Public Health to speak to our Public Health specialist. If a Public Health specialist calls, it will display on your phone as “LA Public Health” or as 833-641-0305.
It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results, to stay at home and isolate until they receive results. If the results are positive, then they will need to self-isolate for 10 days and 24 hours after symptoms and fever subside.
Public Health reminds anyone with a positive lab result who has not yet connected with a Public Health specialist to call 1-833-540-0473 for support and information about services. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue calling 211 for resources or more information.
To date, Public Health identified 317,656 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 7,157 deaths.
“Many people across our County are grieving a family member or friend who has passed away from COVID-19. We send you our deepest condolences during this difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We have experienced increasing cases in L.A. County before and have demonstrated that we can get back to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives when we are united in our efforts to minimize infections. With so many people newly infected each day, there are a lot more opportunities for virus transmission if we continue to intermingle with lots of people outside our households. We are strongly recommending that everyone limit their interactions with people outside their household as much as possible as we work together to lower the number of new cases.”
As the holiday season approaches and COVID-19 spread is increasing, it is critically important that everyone follow the simple public health safety measures that provide protection from COVID-19 and minimizes spreading it to friends and family. There is a high level of risk associated with gatherings of any kind, especially when people are inside, and not keeping physical distance of at least 6 feet and wearing face coverings. Because COVID-19 spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets, face coverings combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and physical distancing, provides the best protection. If you are planning to get together with others, it is important that your plan follows the Public Health safety guidance on small private gatherings; this includes gathering outdoors only, with up to two other households, for less than two hours.
Of the 23 new deaths reported today, 11 people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, six people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and six people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old. Twenty-one people who died had underlying health conditions including 10 people over the age of 80, six people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and five people between the ages of 50 and 64 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 6,748 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, 16 cases and six deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.
Testing results are available for nearly 3,220,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive. There are 821 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 29% of these people are in the ICU.
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.
