MIS-C Cases Increase in L.A. County Children

137 New Deaths and 3,497 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 137 new deaths and 3,497 new cases of COVID-19.  To date, Public Health identified 1,161,773 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 18,789 deaths.

Since Tuesday, February 9 daily reported cases have stabilized near 3,500 new cases a day.

Public Health is reporting 15 additional cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), bringing the total cases in L.A. County to 90 children including one child death.  L.A. County has experienced more than a 35% increase in children with MIS-C in last two weeks; on January 30, Public Health reported 66 children with MIS-C.

All 90 children with MIS-C in L.A. County were hospitalized and 41% of the children were treated in the ICU. Of the children with MIS-C, 30% were under the age of 5 years old, 40% were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old, and 30% were between the ages of 12 and 20 years old. Latino/Latinx children account for 72% of the reported cases.

MIS-C is a serious inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that affects children under 21 years old. MIS-C cases tend to appear in children weeks after they had COVID-19, and sometimes even when a child or adolescent had no known prior infection.  Symptoms include fever that does not go away and inflamed body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. If you believe your child is displaying MIS-C symptoms, contact your primary care or an urgent care provider. Seek emergency care for critical or life-threatening conditions. If you do not have a primary care provider, dial 2-1-1 and L.A. County will help connect you to one.

There are 3,604 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 30% of these people are in the ICU.  Testing results are available for more than 5,662,000 individuals with 19% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 6.1%.

Of the 137 new deaths reported today, 40 people who passed away were over the age of 80, 42 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 28 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and  seven people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. Fifteen deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and five deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

“To the families and friends who have lost someone to COVID-19, our hearts and condolences go out to you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. ” I know I speak for everyone when I say that we do not want to endure another surge in cases like the one we are just now beginning to recover from. The significant increase in MIS-C we are seeing in LA County is a consequence of our recent surge and demonstrates the terrible ripple effect of a large increase in cases. We ask that everyone continue to follow the rules and safety measures that slow COVID-19 spread so that our recovery journey continues. Please celebrate this weekend’s holidays at home and only with the people you live with.  Transmission of COVID-19 remains widespread in our county.”

More than 1,345,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the county. Of those vaccinated, 298,875 people have received second doses. At this time, vaccinations are available for healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and people who are age 65 or older. This upcoming week, we will receive 219,700 doses of vaccine; more than 50% of this allocation will be needed for second doses.   The majority of appointments at the County’s large capacity vaccination sites continue to be limited to individuals with appointments for their second doses. It is our hope that we will see larger allocations in the near future.

Each week, new partners and new providers, large and small, join the monumental effort to vaccinate members of our L.A. County communities.  Next week, 391 vaccination sites will be offering appointments to healthcare workers and LA County residents 65 and older.  We are very grateful for these partnerships and for the coordination that is occurring across sectors and across communities.

Residents are encouraged to visit website, www.VaccinateLACounty.com  and www.VaccunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to sign up for available appointments, learn about the vaccination phases, determine when it is your turn to get vaccinated, and sign-up for our COVID-19 vaccine newsletter.

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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