The Los Angeles Post

COVID-19 Resources Continue to be Accessed by Thousands in Los Angeles County

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Tests, vaccinations, and treatments remain widely available

COVID-19 services remain widely available in Los Angeles County, accessed by thousands of residents each month, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) encourages people to take advantage of testing, treatment, and vaccination resources if they have symptoms of respiratory illness, have been exposed to COVID-19, or want to make sure their protection is up to date.

Testing continues to be an effective tool to limit the spread of COVID-19, whether a person knows they have been exposed to COVID-19 and wants to check their status or if extra caution is warranted before visiting with someone who is higher risk, such as an older or immunocompromised person. Over the past 90 days, as of June 10, over 900,000 PCR tests were administered by health care providers and labs in Los Angeles County and nearly 3.5 million rapid tests were distributed by Public Health across education sites, to skilled nursing facilities, to shelters for people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence, and through community- and faith-based organizations.

Los Angeles County residents can find at-home COVID tests at local libraries, Public Health vaccination sites, and at many food banks, senior centers, and other local organizations. In California, new laws require most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medi-Cal, to cover the cost of 8 free at-home COVID-19 tests for each person every month. To find a testing site, or where free home tests are available in Los Angeles County, visit ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDtests.

If residents have questions about testing, finding free tests, or treatment after testing positive for COVID-19, the Public Health Call Center is available seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. by phoning 1-833-540-0473. From March through May of 2023, over 6,000 calls were received by the Public Health Call Center. During the three-month period ending June 11, 571 prescriptions for COVID-19 treatments were issued by telehealth providers.

Residents can additionally use the Public Health Call Center for general COVID-19 questions and vaccine appointments, including requesting transportation. For people who are unable to leave their homes, homebound vaccination appointments are available. In the past 30 days, this free program has vaccinated 142 homebound clients. People who are immunocompromised or over 65 years old are eligible for a second bivalent vaccine to increase protection against severe illness. As of June 11, over 57,000 Los Angeles County residents aged 65+ have received at least two bivalent COVID vaccine doses. Additional information on vaccine programs or locations, information is available at ph.lacounty.gov/howtogetvaccinated.

COVID-19 continues to have an impact on residents in Los Angeles County. The 7-day average number of daily COVID hospitalizations is 212 this week. Reported weekly deaths decreased to 36 deaths from 46 deaths reported the week before. As of Tuesday, June 6, there have been a total of 36,460 COVID deaths in Los Angeles County.

“To those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, I offer my sincere condolences. I hope you find strength in your memories and the compassion of family and friends during this difficult time,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “Across Los Angeles County it feels a lot like it did before COVID. Sometimes this makes it more difficult when a COVID-19 infection or exposure hits, especially when safety precautions are not front of mind. I want to make sure all residents know that if you test positive for COVID-19, or if you are concerned, resources remain widely available. Please use the Public Health Call Center if you have questions, visit your local library for free COVID tests, and be proactive about getting COVID-19 treatment for you or your loved ones if there’s a positive test.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has replaced COVID-19 Community Levels with Hospital Admission Levels, which can help individuals and communities decide which prevention actions they can take based on the most recent information. Los Angeles County is in the Low Hospital Admission Level with 2.7 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, reported June 15, 2023.

Public Health reports COVID-19 data weekly. The following table shows case, wastewater, emergency department, hospitalization, and death data in Los Angeles County over the past four weeks.

Metric

Date of Weekly Report

6/14/2023

6/7/2023

5/31/2023

5/24/2023

Weekly cases reported1,2

1,716

1,902

1,801

2,157

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentration as a percentage of the Winter 2022-2023 peak concentration value3

17%

10%

11%

9%

7-day average of the percent of Emergency Department (ED) encounters classified as coronavirus-related3,4

2.7%

2.5%

2.3%

2.7%

7-day average number of COVID-positive hospitalizations3,4

212

228

254

247

Weekly deaths reported2

36

46

40

35

1) Case counts are an underrepresentation of the true number of infections, largely due to home tests which are not reported to DPH. Despite this, the trend in reported case counts from week to week is still an indicator of overall trends in transmission.

2) Weekly case and death counts represent the number of cases and deaths reported for the week ending each Tuesday. The date a case/death is reported by DPH is not the same as the date of testing or death.

3) Time periods covered by each metric: wastewater = week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag; ED data = week ending each Sunday; hospitalizations = week ending each Sunday (except for the data point for 6/14/23 which is for the week ending Saturday due to a data transition at the federal level).

4) Data for past weeks is subject to change in future reports.

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/COVIDdata including:

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

Cases through 12:00pm 6/12/2023

 

Total Cases

NEW

Laboratory Confirmed Cases

3,751,573

1716

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

3,546,784

1612

— Long Beach

164,443

81

— Pasadena

40,346

23

Deaths

36,460

36

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

34,595

33

— Long Beach

1,418

3

— Pasadena

447

0

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

– 0 to 4

112,141

– 5 to 11

283,237

– 12 to 17

277,948

– 18 to 29

759,655

– 30 to 49

1,136,488

– 50 to 64

615,980

– 65 to 79

265,342

–  over 80

93,440

–  Under Investigation

2,553

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

–  Female

1,830,589

–  Male

1,625,310

–  Other

1,818

–  Under Investigation

89,067

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

6,721

–  Asian

264,381

–  Black

186,416

–  Hispanic/Latino

1,515,333

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

17,752

–  White

492,692

–  Other

407,572

–  Under Investigation

655,917

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

–  Hospitalized (Ever)

178,580

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

80

–  Asian

4,508

–  Black

3,251

–  Hispanic/Latino

16,901

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

119

–  White

9,229

–  Other

417

–  Under Investigation

90