COVID-19 Hospitalizations Increase Continues; Businesses Reminded of Safety Measures to Protect Staff and Customers

218 New Deaths and 19,719 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

 

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirmed 218 new deaths and 19,719 new cases of COVID-19.  To date, Public Health identified 871,404 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 11,545 deaths.

Of the 218 new deaths reported today, 20 deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

There are 8,098 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 20% of these people are in the ICU.   Since January 3, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased by more than 550 people.

Testing results are available for nearly 4,890,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive.  Today’s daily test positivity rate is 20.4%

Because COVID-19 is spreading throughout L.A. County at an alarming acceleration, businesses are reminded they have a duty to protect employees, customers and residents from transmission of COVID-19 as much as possible and implement all safety measures in the business protocols that prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Public Health’s compliance teams continue to visit businesses across the County every day and review public health protocols with business owners, identify deficiencies, and issue citations for businesses out of compliance. From December 6, 2020 through January 3, 2021 a total of 143 citations were issued to businesses including restaurants, gyms, personal care salons, hair salons/barbershops, places of worship, and shopping malls for noncompliance with Health Officer Orders. Since the end of August, a total of 526 citations have been issued.

Businesses that are not adhering to safety protocols to protect workers and customers contribute to increased risk for COVID-19 spread. A list of non-compliant businesses that received citations can be found online.

To assist L.A. County businesses follow the required protocols and maintain their operations with as much safety as possible for their staff, customers, and visitors, Public Health encourages businesses to take advantage of the COVID-19 Safety Compliance Certification Program. The program provides business owners and employees the opportunity to take a free online training about COVID-19 infection control protocols and allows businesses to self-certify that they are fully implementing protocols in compliance with infection control and physical distancing requirements.  To date, a total of 18,452 employees and employers have completed the training.

“Our hearts go out to the families that are grieving the loss of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Everyone in L.A. County, businesses and residents, needs to follow the rules if there is any chance we can get out of this surge by the end of the month. Every day we report a large number of people newly infected with COVID-19, it is like a reset on the clock for when we can get back to our recovery journey. I implore everyone to stay home as much as possible.  Shopping for anything except food and medicine and mingling with others are activities we all need to stop doing for the next few weeks as it increases risk.  There are just too many people spreading the virus, too many people sick and hospitalized and each person that dies is one too many.”

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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