{"id":26922,"date":"2020-07-15T15:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T22:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=26922"},"modified":"2020-07-16T15:40:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T22:40:27","slug":"l-a-county-expands-covid-19-testing-capacity-by-65-to-address-disparities-in-high-need-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=26922","title":{"rendered":"L.A. County Expands COVID-19 Testing Capacity by 65% to Address Disparities in High-Need Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

$4-million Grant from Center for Disease Control Allocated by Department of Health Services to Community Support including Partnerships with Community-Based Organizations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES\u2014 Los Angeles health officials today announced details of a focused effort to expand testing capacity by over 65% in targeted \u201chot-spot\u201d communities in response to data showing a disproportionately higher burden of COVID-related illness in communities of color and those with higher rates of poverty. Officials also announced a $4 million investment in public-private partnerships, outreach, and community engagement to reduce transmission disparities and facilitate broader access to testing while providing historically under-resourced communities with resources.<\/p>\n

The data collected from County-supported testing sites points to a concerning trend in higher test positivity rate by race and economic status and higher mortality rate in Black and Latinx communities, where the age-adjudged mortality rate is twice that of whites. Test positivity is an important indicator of the trajectory of the pandemic and the ability to provide enough testing needed to keep transmission low. The rate of test positivity is higher among the Latinx community than among any other racial or ethnic group in L.A. County; data also shows a direct correlation between poverty level and test positivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis data is alarming and requires urgent focus to do more to expand access to testing and address the health equity issues that COVID-19 makes tragically clear every day,\u201d said Los Angeles County Department of Health Services director Dr. Christina Ghaly.\u00a0 \u201cWe must remember that testing is only one factor. There are underlying reasons why communities of color are disproportionately impacted by worse outcomes of COVID-19\u2014long-standing structural and systemic issues, including social determinants of health, that the County is working to address and mitigate amidst this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing on \u201chot-spot\u201d areas, the County is adding testing capacity by standing up new sites and adding capacity to existing sites in a manner that addresses the stark disproportionality of testing access facing vulnerable populations identified through heat mapping. The mapping shows communities with higher test positivity and mortality rates and where the overall testing rate is not meeting the 1.5 tests per 1,000 daily threshold set by the State of California.<\/p>\n

The multi-pronged effort includes the following:<\/p>\n