3 Assisted Living Facilities Have COVID-19 Outbreaks; LA County Cases Triple In 6 Days

By Brian Frank

Published Mar 27, 2020 12:00 PM

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Los Angeles County today reported outbreaks in at least three assisted living facilities.

At the daily news briefing L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said three or more people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Kensington Assisted Living in Redondo Beach, Belmont Village in Hollywood, and Alameda Care Center in Burbank. Staff, residents and families have all been notified. Ferrer said:

"I want to note that there have been no deficiencies identified at these facilities, and that staff and managers are doing their very best to protect the health of their residents. It is unfortunate that this virus, knows no boundaries, and it can be imported and exported wherever there are people."

Ferrer said, in total, 35 positive cases have now been reported across 14 places she described as "institutional settings."

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Ferrer also reported five new deaths. Here are the updated case numbers:

5 new deaths: 4 men and 1 woman, all of them older than 60
Of the nine deaths reported yesterday, eight were also older than 60, and one person was in their 40s with underlying health conditions
257 new cases, including 54 in Long Beach and 9 in Pasadena
1,465 total confirmed cases
22% of positive cases have required hospitalization
1.8% mortality rate

Ferrer noted that the number of positive cases across the county has tripled in less than a week. That's in part due to improved access to testing, but "we also also have to assume that these numbers represent a very real fact that we have a lot more people infected in the county who are capable of infecting others."

Note that the mortality rate has fluctuated and will likely continued to do so as testing expands. Ferrer acknowledged that if you only test the seriously ill, you will see a higher mortality rate because you're not including those people who are actually infected and have only mild symptoms.

"So this doesn't really mean it's the truth, but because we're all in this space right now of not having enough testing capacity, it does give you a sense of why we're worried about the danger of having rapid increases in the number of cases. Because it is associated right now, with a significantly higher death rate than what we usually see for example for influenza."

At the same briefing, the county announced that it was closing all beaches — including bathrooms, bike paths, and promenades — until Apr. 19 to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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