Public Health Launches Vaccination Sweepstakes with Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Galaxy and Encourages Everyone to Celebrate Memorial Day Safely

9 New Deaths and 217 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

Starting tomorrow, Friday, May 28, through next Thursday, June 3, at all the county-run vaccination sites, LA city sites and the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center sites, everyone 18 and older getting their first vaccine or bringing a first-time vaccine recipient with them to their second dose appointment, will have an opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the 2021-2022 home season of either the LA Kings or the LA Galaxy. Two residents will be awarded prizes.

The best way to prepare for a safe Memorial Day holiday is to be vaccinated. That way, keeping your get-togethers in line with Public Health safety guidelines is much simpler:  When everyone at a gathering is vaccinated, you can gather outdoors or inside without any masking or distancing requirements.  However, if any of the guests at your gathering are unvaccinated, they should wear masks and keep a distance from people in other households. In these situations, gathering outdoors with at most 100 others is safest, and if you gather indoors, keep the numbers lower, at 50% of capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer. Enjoy LA County’s beaches, movie theaters, amusement parks, campgrounds, certified famers’ markets, live events, museums, family entertainment centers, and holiday sales. Guidelines for individual sites and sectors apply.

Today, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 9 new deaths and 217 new cases of COVID-19.  Of the nine new deaths reported today, five people that passed away were over the age of 80, one person who died was between the ages of 65 and 79, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

Public Health’s data teams have identified 3,857 historical L.A. County resident cases dating back to March 16, 2020 that are included in case totals. These cases came from inpatient and outpatient medical records and cases with updated address information or revised jurisdiction criteria. To date, Public Health identified 1,243,319 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,321 deaths.

There are 325 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 19% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 6,730,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 0.4%.

“To those who have been grieving the loss of a loved one or a coworker to this virus, you have our deepest condolences, and our thoughts are with you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As you gather together with family this Memorial Day, I hope you join me in expressing our profound gratitude for all the sacrifices our veterans have made on behalf of others. I know we are all glad this Memorial Day many of us will be able to gather with family and friends again.  Perhaps, this year, where so many have lost their lives in the battle against COVID-19, an important way to honor our service members is to emulate their willingness to put their care for others front and center. This caring for others has made it possible to get through this pandemic, and making a decision to get vaccinated in order to protect those who cannot get vaccinated helps get us to the other side. So over the next week, make time amid the Memorial Day remembrances to get your vaccine. Not only will you honor the sacrifices of others and gain a lot of added protection for yourself, but you may be that lucky person who gets to watch an amazing team do our County proud.”

During the surge, daily age-adjusted rate of cases per 100,000 people were much higher among Latinx residents, than among other racial groups.  Now the highest case rates are among Black residents, at 45 cases per 100,000 Black residents. The County is now seeing 26 cases per 100,000 Latinx residents, 24 cases per 100,000 White residents and 11 cases per 100,000 Asian residents. The shift of the highest proportion of the case burden being borne by Black residents represents a shift in who is being disproportionately affected by this virus in L.A. County.

Also, during the surge weekly age-adjusted rate of hospitalizations per 100,000 people were much higher among Latinx residents than among other racial groups. As of May 22, the highest hospitalization rates are now among Black residents, at 3.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 Black residents. The County is now seeing 2.4 hospitalizations per 100,000 Latinx residents, 1.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 White residents and 0.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 Asian residents. This also represents a shift in who is being disproportionately hospitalized at this point in the pandemic.

Given the disparities in cases and hospitalizations that now disproportionately affect Black residents, the death rate due to COVID-19 is now highest among Black residents.  As of May 15, the death rate among Black residents was about 1 per 100,000 people– still low, but twice as high as among Latinx residents, whose death rate was about 0.5 per 100,000 people, and about three times as high as among Asian and White residents, whose rates were 0.34 per 100,000 people.

The hard-hit communities are where we really need to see vaccination gains in order to ensure that the disproportionately in health outcomes from COVID-19 doesn’t continue.

While the vaccines are extraordinarily effective, with almost half of residents 16 and older not yet fully vaccinated, adherence to required safety modifications at worksites remains an important strategy as we increase the number of people vaccinated. Public Health inspectors continue to visit businesses across L.A. County.  From May 17 through May 23 inspectors visited more than 1,500 business. In almost all sectors, compliance with masking and distancing requirements is extremely high, with the only exceptions in garment manufacturing.  Inspectors are revisiting these manufacturing sites to ensure full compliance.

As the County approaches the lifting of public health modifications in most business sectors on June 15, Public Health hopes that businesses will partner with their employees to make it easy for all workers to get vaccinated by bringing vaccines to the worksite or offering paid time off for staff to get vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccinations are available at County-run sites and many community sites without an appointment and many sites are open on weekends and have evening hours. Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com  (Spanish) to find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more. 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, connecting to free transportation to and from a vaccination site, or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound.

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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