With Surging Number of Daily Cases and Hospital Capacity Dangerously Low, Public Health Urges Compliance to Health Protocols

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 70 new deaths and 11,476 new cases of confirmed COVID-19. To date, Public Health has identified 512,872 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 8,269 deaths.

All key Public Health indicators are increasing to record levels. One month ago, on November 12, the 5-day average of cases was 2,134 and today the 5-day average is 10,034; this is an increase of 370% in just one month. The 5-day average of deaths one month ago, on November 12, was 12; today, average daily deaths it’s 62. In just 30 days our deaths have increased 416% across the County. During that same time frame, the positivity rate has increased 141%; today, the daily test positivity rate is 14.2%. And hospitalizations increased 303% in one month; today we are reporting 3,850 COVID-19 hospitalizations, and 22% of COVID-19 patients are in the ICU.

Our daily case numbers are unlike any we have ever seen in our county and reflect extraordinarily high rates of community transmission; activities we were able to do just a few weeks back, now present far too much risk for virus transmission.

In order for us to stop the surge, L.A. County residents will need to use the tools at hand to slow community transmission and reduce the number of infected people. The strategies that work remain the same: no gatherings/events with others outside of your immediate household, always and correctly wear face coverings/masks when around others, and always maintain your physical distance from others who are not from your household. During this surge, everyone should also stay at home except to provide or receive  essential services , avoid all non-essential travel, get tested if you have symptoms or an exposure, and isolate immediately from your family and others if you have symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.  If we take these actions, we will save lives.

“Each day, as we share this information with you, we know there are people across our community who have suffered tremendous loss. For those mourning the passing of a loved one, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “This is an extraordinarily challenging time.   Hospitals are stressed and filling up with hundreds of new COVId-19 positive patients each day, our healthcare workers are exhausted, and deaths are reaching an all-time high. Actions taken by each of us continue to make or break our collective ability to prevent many people from becoming infected, seriously ill and potentially passing away from COVID-19. While vaccines are around the corner, they will not be here in time to prevent compromising care for seriously ill individuals at our hospitals. Only we can do that by following the public health directives: Stay home except for performing essential work and/or acquiring essential services. Always wear a face covering when out of your house and know that every single time you are with people not in your household you are running a serious risk of being exposed to the virus.”

Of the 68 new deaths reported today, 27 people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, 23 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 six people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Fifty-two of the 68 deaths reported today were people with underlying health conditions, including 22 people who were over the age of 80 years old, 17 people who were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, nine people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and four 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 7,813 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, 9% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Testing results are available for more than 4,091,000 individuals with 12% of all people testing positive. Upon further investigation, 239 cases 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.

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