COVID-19 Cases Increase by Nearly 10 Times in One Month

31,576 New Positive Cases and 27 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

LA County is reporting 31,576 new COVID-19 cases, nearly 10 times the number of cases reported one month ago on December 17^th when Public Health reported 3,360 new cases. There are also 27 new deaths due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. The number of cases and deaths are likely to reflect reporting delays over the holiday weekend.

There are  4,564 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized, nearly 6 times the number from one month ago when 772 people were hospitalized. The daily positivity rate is 16.5%, more than 8 times the 2% daily positivity rate on December 17^th.

“Our hearts and prayers are with all those mourning the loss of their loved ones from COVID,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “On this national holiday where we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, we remember his deep commitment to health equity.  As Reverend King memorably said, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.’ Tragically, we have seen this play out in real life and very clearly over the past two years with the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color. From the onset of the pandemic, communities of color have experienced the greatest devastation from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County and throughout the nation. As we continue to implement strategies – enforcing worker protections through our Health Officer Orders, providing resources needed by many to survive the impact of the pandemic, funding community-based organizations in hard hit areas to serve as trusted public health messengers, and increasing vaccination access in under-sourced neighborhoods – we also need to come together to address the impact that racism, historical disinvestment, and social marginalization have on COVID-19 outcomes. While these conditions predate the pandemic, without deliberate collective actions to address the root causes of health inequities, we are unlikely to close the gaps we have documented for 2 long years.”

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today released the latest data on COVID-19. The number of cases and deaths are likely to reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

• 31,576 new COVID-19 cases (2,289,045 cases to date)
• 27 new deaths due to COVID-19 (28,086 deaths to date)
• 4,564 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19
• More than 10,664,000 individuals tested; 20% of people tested positive to date

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

*Number reflects an undercount due to a lag from weekend reporting.

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
Laboratory Confirmed Cases	2,289,045
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)*	2,176,957
— Long Beach	91,436
— Pasadena	20,652
Deaths	28,086
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)	26,621
— Long Beach	1,088
— Pasadena	377
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
– 0 to 4	61496
– 5 to 11	173914
– 12 to 17	176454
– 18 to 29	506086
– 30 to 49	706412
– 50 to 64	366053
– 65 to 79	139276
–  over 80	45829
–  Under Investigation	1437
Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Female	1104435
–  Male	1012158
–  Other	864
–  Under Investigation	59500
Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	3776
–  Asian	121243
–  Black	111156
–  Hispanic/Latino	1021857
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	10942
–  White	280740
–  Other	222085
–  Under Investigation	405158
Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Hospitalized (Ever)	116510
Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	63
–  Asian	3420
–  Black	2397
–  Hispanic/Latino	14007
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	95
–  White	6385
–  Other	213
–  Under Investigation	41