LA County Reports Lowest Number Of New Daily Coronavirus Cases Since Late March

Los Angeles County today reported 239 new coronavirus cases — the lowest number of new daily cases reported in the county since March 26.

"That's a good thing," said L.A. County Department of Public Health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, although she said she was "only cautiously optimistic" because the number of new cases is historically lower on Mondays due to limited testing and reporting on weekends.

That brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in L.A. County to 9,420, including 337 cases reported by Long Beach and 117 cases reported by Pasadena, both which have independent health departments.

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L.A. County also saw 25 new deaths from coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to 320. That brings the fatality rate here to 3.4%, according to Ferrer. She said the racial breakdown of L.A. County coronavirus deaths was:

• 14% - African American
• 18% - Asian
• 33% - Latinx
• 33% - white
• 2% - another race

TOP TAKEAWAYS FOR L.A. COUNTY...

Coronavirus And Homelessness
L.A. County confirmed 23 cases of coronavirus among people experiencing homelessness, a slight increase from Friday. The majority of these cases have occurred among people who are unsheltered. The four people who were homeless but sheltered and tested positive for COVID-19 are all now isolated and their close contacts are quarantined.

Hospitalizations
1,059 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in L.A. County are currently hospitalized. 18% of them are in the ICU. 15% of all the people hospitalized are on ventilators. Ferrer noted that the hospitalization and ICU utilization rates (for both beds and ventilators) has remained relatively steady over the past week.

Coronavirus In Health Care Workers
Over the last month, L.A. County has lost three people who who worked in health care settings. Two of them worked in hospitals and one worked for correctional health. At the end of last week, L.A. County had reported 787 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among health care workers. Nurses account for nearly one-third of all those cases and physicians account for another 9%.

Coronavirus In Nursing Homes
92 residents of skilled nursing or assisted living facilities have died from COVID-19 — a whopping 29% of L.A. County deaths. The total number of confirmed cases in institutional settings as 1,372. 681 of those people are residents and 691 are staff or employees.

Coronavirus In Jails
L.A. County is reporting 89 confirmed cases in jail facilities — 26 inmates and 63 staff. There are 28 cases reported in our state prisons in L.A. County. There are four cases reported in county juvenile facilities, all among staff members.

The Department of Children and Family Services reported 14 cases — one young person and 13 staff — all at one facility.

Testing Backlog
Almost 52,000 people have been tested in L.A. County and the rate of positive tests is 13%. The county has inputted most of its backlog of negative cases into its electronic reporting system. "I think we're only missing about another 2,200 negative cases," Ferrer said, "that we'll be adding in over this week."

Testing Capacity
Testing capacity has increased, according to Ferrer, "But because it's still limited and because there are still significant time lags and getting results, testing is still recommended only for those people who are symptomatic."

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