L.A. County Metrics Continue to Show Progress; No New COVID-19 Deaths Among Healthcare Workers in 3 Weeks

18 New Deaths and 224 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 18 new deaths and 224 new cases of COVID-19.  Of the 18 new deaths reported today, five people that passed away were over the age of 80, nine people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, two people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49.

To date, Public Health identified 1,235,970 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,020 deaths.

There are 374 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 21% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 6,592,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive.

Los Angeles County remains in the least restrictive yellow tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy that allows for expanded re-openings and increased occupancy limits across a wide range of sectors with required safety measures.

Today, the State released updated blueprint tier numbers; L.A. County’s adjusted case rate dropped from 1.6 new cases per 100,000 people to 1.4 new cases per 100,000. The overall test positivity rate remained at 0.7% and in areas with the fewest health affirming resources, L.A. County’s test positivity rate dropped from 0.8% to 0.7%. Los Angeles County has closed the test positivity gap.

“While we are relieved that out metrics remain stable, we continue to mourn the loss of life and send our deepest sympathies to everyone who is missing a loved one who passed away from COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “The most powerful tool to maintain our recovery progress is the vaccine and the most important work in front of us is to make it easier for residents to get vaccinated. With vaccination eligibility set to expand later this week to include adolescents between 12-15 years of age, there will be more opportunities to get vaccine into more arms to save lives and to build the County’s protection against COVID-19. Getting vaccinated is the way we end this pandemic.”

Healthcare workers began to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in December 2020 and since then, COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers sharply dropped. During the last week of December, there were nearly 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 among healthcare workers. Last week, there were only 43 new cases among healthcare workers reported across the entire county.  This is the eighth week in a row that the number of new cases among healthcare workers is 50 or fewer a week.

To date, 262 healthcare workers have tragically passed away from COVID-19. At the peak of the surge, the week of January 3, 2021, 24 healthcare workers passed away. In the last three consecutive weeks, no COVID-19 deaths have been reported among healthcare workers.

Throughout the pandemic nursing facility staff have accounted for one-fourth of healthcare worker cases. Cases among nursing facility staff also dropped. The week of January 3, 2021 a total of 1,109 nursing facility staff tested positive for COVID-19. For the week of April 24, a total of 11 nursing facility staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Currently, 84% of skilled nursing facility staff received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among the staff who received their first dose, 96% received their second dose and are fully vaccinated. High rates of vaccination are correlated with the low cases rate of among healthcare workers at nursing homes and at all healthcare facilities.

COVID-19 vaccinations are available at County-run sites and many community sites without an appointment. Anyone 16 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. You should bring a photo ID with you and teens 16 and 17 should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Yesterday, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. Los Angeles County will offer the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affirms the FDA recommendation.  For a full list of sites across the county offering Pfizer vaccines, please visit  http://bit.ly/PfizerSites to find a site near you where teens can be vaccinated.

To find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish). If you don’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or you’re over 65, you can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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