Positive Tests Climb to a High of Over 14% as LA County Continues to Experience High Case and Hospitalization Numbers

Public Health Reports 22 New Deaths and 9,473 New Positive Cases of Confirmed COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

Today, LA County reported continued high case numbers along with rising hospitalizations. Most alarming is the increase in test positivity which has more than tripled since mid-December, indicating surging transmission across the county.

With high rates of transmission, unfortunately, even those who are vaccinated can become infected and infect others. And while the hope is that Omicron symptoms are milder, the current rise in hospitalizations is a cause for concern. Hospitalizations have increased by 30% since last Tuesday; the alarming rise in hospitalizations follows an alarming increase in cases last week.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today released the latest data on COVID-19.

• 9,473 new COVID-19 cases (1,632,893 cases to date)
• 22 new deaths due to COVID-19 (27,576 deaths to date)
• 966 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19
• More than 9,960,000 individuals tested; 15% of people tested positive

Data is by date reported by DPH, but does not necessarily represent the date of testing, hospitalization, or death.

1 – Number reflects an undercount due to a lag from holiday or weekend reporting.

2 – Numbers do not include Long Beach and Pasadena.

“As we approach the new year, with the staggering reality that over 27,000 LA County residents have lost their lives to Omicron, we extend our thoughts and prayers to those who have lost their love ones,  said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “And while we all wish that 2022 would begin without the continued tragedy of serious illness and death associated with COVID,  we are instead facing the prospect of an alarming surge that requires every person to act with intentionality: get vaccinated and boosted, get tested, and please, always wear a mask around others. These are the tools we have to try to keep each other safe over the holidays.”

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

• COVID-19 Daily Data (cases, deaths, testing, testing positivity rate, mortality rate, and hospitalizations)
• Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity and City/Community Cases and Deaths
• Recovery Metrics
• Contract Tracing Metrics
• Skilled Nursing Facility Metrics
• Citations due to Health Officer Order Noncompliance
• Outbreaks:
  • Residential Congregate Sessions
  • Non-Residential Settings
  • Homeless Service Settings

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/
• California Department of Public Health:
• https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019.aspx
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• Spanish https://espanol.cdc.gov/enes/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• World Health Organization https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
• LA County residents can also call 2-1-1

Please see additional information below:

	Total Cases	NEW
Laboratory Confirmed Cases	1632893	9473
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)*	1547820	8479
— Long Beach	70378	994
— Pasadena	14695	0
Deaths	27576	22
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)	26139	22
— Long Beach	1067	0
— Pasadena	370	0
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
– 0 to 4	41030
– 5 to 11	90277
– 12 to 17	98431
– 18 to 29	371869
– 30 to 49	518132
– 50 to 64	278299
– 65 to 79	110031
–  over 80	38812
–  Under Investigation	939
Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Female	779062
–  Male	731258
–  Other	797
–  Under Investigation	36703
Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	2690
–  Asian	77037
–  Black	78297
–  Hispanic/Latino	772021
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	5878
–  White	205562
–  Other	135062
–  Under Investigation	271273
Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Hospitalized (Ever)	110823	**DATA  Under reported
Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	61
–  Asian	3373
–  Black	2338
–  Hispanic/Latino	13816
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	97
–  White	6218
–  Other	201
–  Under Investigation	35