Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Top 10K In LA County. 40 New Deaths 'Tragically...Highest For Any Single Day'

Los Angeles County has confirmed 909 new cases of coronavirus in the last 48 hours, bringing the total to 10,047 confirmed countywide. That includes 350 cases in the city of Long Beach and 164 cases in Pasadena (both those cities operate their own health departments).

L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer also reported 40 new deaths Tuesday. She said:

Ferrer said 25 of the people who died were over the age of 65 and 17 of those individuals had underlying health conditions. Nine people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65, and five of those victims had underlying health conditions.

Here are some other key figures reported today:

• In total, 1,433 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those individuals, 33% are in the ICU, with 20% on ventilators.
• More than 63,000 people have now been tested countywide, Ferrer said, adding that 10,000 new tests were reported yesterday alone. Overall, 11% of all tests have been positive.
• The county reported that 109 deaths so far have come from institutional facilities, which include rehab centers, convalescent hospitals and nursing homes. That number represents nearly a third of deaths countywide, Ferrer noted.
• The county health department is currently investigating 199 institutional facilities where there's at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. Thirteen of those investigations were launched yesterday. The county reports that 850 residents at those facilities and 746 staff members have tested positive, for a total of 1,596 confirmed cases.
• There are 26 confirmed cases among people experiencing homelessness.
• There are now 64 confirmed cases in county jail facilities. Eleven inmates and 53 staff members have tested positive.
• There are 29 confirmed cases in the state prisons — 19 inmates and 10 staff — and four cases in juvenile facilities, all among staff.

Ferrer also said the county is working to provide more accurate daily numbers after finding some errors in yesterday's reports. She said they are working on a "much more informative grid about what's happening at the institutions that includes both information on staff and residents, both for those who are testing positive and those who are persons under investigation."

Ferrer also provided a racial breakdown of the confirmed deaths, based on information confirmed for 292 of the victims. According to the latest available information:

• 16% African American [9% of county residents]
• 17% Asian [15.4% of county residents]
• 34% Latino or Latina [48.6% of county residents]
• 32% White [26.1% of county residents]
• 2% identified as belonging to a different race or ethnicity

Ferrer said that, despite chatter at the national level about moving to reopen the country, "we're not yet on the other side of this pandemic."

"For L.A. residents, this means we need to keep doing what we're doing," Ferrer said, noting the importance of continuing to stay home, practice social distancing and wearing face coverings while out in public.

"These tools are essential now, and they will remain essential as part of our toolkit until we have therapeutic medicines and the vaccine," she said.

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