COVID-19 Cases Increasing Among Persons Experiencing Homelessness

3,606 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County and 5 New Deaths

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 5 new deaths and 3,606 new cases of COVID-19. Of the new deaths reported today, one person who died was between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Two deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health identified 1,297,032 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,676 deaths. There are 991 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 20% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for over 7,307,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 6.3%.

In parallel with the overall trend in L.A. County, the number of COVID-19 cases among people experiencing homelessness has increased significantly over the past few weeks. This week (for the period July 19-25), there were 111 new cases reported among people experiencing homelessness, an increase of 21% compared to last week, which had 92 reported cases of COVID-19. To date, 7,588 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County tested positive for COVID-19 and 216 people who were experiencing homelessness passed away from COVID-19. Of the people experiencing homelessness who passed away, 99 were sheltered, 71 were unsheltered, and for 46 people who passed away, their shelter status was unknown.

There are 1,066 providers administering vaccinations to people experiencing homelessness; together they have administered over 45,950 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County. Of the vaccinated people experiencing homelessness, 20,188 are fully vaccinated.

The County continues to work closely with partner organizations to vaccinate and protect people experiencing homelessness from COVID-19 infection. Coordination of vaccination work continues across sectors that might have some overlap with PEH, including faith-based organizations, DPH’s mobile teams targeting high morbidity areas, transportation hubs, etc. Approximately 129 events have been scheduled for this week through various partners, including Housing for Health (HFH). These events will take place at a variety of venues including food banks, shelters, public libraries, clinics, and others.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Given the high rate of community transmission in our county, our vaccination efforts remain critically important to reducing the impact of rising infection on our residents, including people experiencing homelessness who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. If you already had COVID-19 and recovered, you should still get vaccinated. There are severe health risks associated with COVID and reinfection is possible, particularly from variants of the virus. And if you haven’t received your second shot of a two-dose vaccine, you aren’t getting maximum protection against COVID-19. All of the emerging data on the Delta variant indicates that the vaccines do not provide significant protection unless you have received both doses, so please go get your second dose this weekend.”

As of July 25th, nearly 11 million doses have been administered to residents 12 years and older, including more than 6 million first doses and nearly 4.9 million second doses. More than 6.1 million L.A. County residents have received one dose, and nearly 5.4 million are fully vaccinated. 90% of County residents 65 years and over have been vaccinated, 71% of residents 16 years and over, and 70% of residents 12 years and over. We have vaccinated 50% of LA County teens between the ages of 12 and 17 years, and out of all 10.3 million LA County residents, including those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, 60% have received at least one dose, and 52% are fully vaccinated.

For the second week in a row, there was an uptick in first dose recipients after weeks of steadily declining weekly vaccination numbers: between July 19 and 25, we administered 69,558 doses across the entire County network, an increase of about 7,500 from the previous week.

To find a vaccination site near you, 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, connecting to free transportation to and from a vaccination site, or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments and photo identification are not needed for adults 18 and older at any of the county vaccination sites.

COVID-19 Sector Protocols, Best Practices, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, 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.

Please see additional information below:

 

Total Cases

NEW

Laboratory Confirmed Cases

1297032

3606

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)*

1229471

3473

— Long Beach

55739

96

— Pasadena

11,822

37

Deaths

24676

5

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

23371

3

— Long Beach

953

2

— Pasadena

352

0

Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

– 0 to 4

30745

– 5 to 11

59453

– 12 to 17

73629

– 18 to 29

294291

– 30 to 49

410361

– 50 to 64

233702

– 65 to 79

92876

–  over 80

33733

–  Under Investigation

681

Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  Female

622822

–  Male

582858

–  Other

667

–  Under Investigation

23124

Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

2087

–  Asian

58800

–  Black

53206

–  Hispanic/Latino

649099

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

4466

–  White

140397

–  Other

104243

–  Under Investigation

217173

Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

1229471

–  Hospitalized (Ever)

92300

Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

52

–  Asian

3178

–  Black

1955

–  Hispanic/Latino

12536

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

69

–  White

5377

–  Other

169

–  Under Investigation

35