LA County's Worst Day Yet: 29 More Deaths, Confirmed Cases Pass 7,500

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In Los Angeles County's worst day yet in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, public health officials announced that 29 more people have died and 620 more have tested positive.

This brings the total number who have died because of COVID-19 to 198. The dead include two health care workers. They also include 37 residents of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, where the number of reported outbreaks continues to rise.

In the last 48 hours, the county has reported 1,170 new cases, bringing the total so far to 7,530. These numbers rely on reported results and therefore lag behind the real number of infections. They don't yet reflect a "dramatic increase" in testing sites and availability, because those results aren't available yet, according to Barbara Ferrer, the county's public health director.

Here are the latest numbers:

• 17 of the people who died were over the age of 65, and all but one of them had underlying health conditions
• 7 of those who died were between 41-65, five of them with underlying health conditions
• 1 person was 18-40 and also had underlying health conditions
• 3 of those who died lived in Long Beach and 1 in Pasadena, and the county doesn't have details on them yet
• 2.6% mortality rate in L.A. County, an increase over recent days
• 12 cases among the homeless
• 131 institutional settings report cases:
• 43 in jail facilities (3 inmates and 40 staff)
• 10 in state prison (8 inmates and 2 staff)
• 2 in juvenile facilities (both staff)
• 4 in shelters serving homeless (2 staff and 2 residents)
• 324 health care workers have tested positive: 58% of those in hospitals, 16% in outpatient facilities, and 6% among emergency medical services. Nurses are the group most likely to have tested positive.
• 131 institutions have at least 1 case — these include assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, shelters, treatment centers, supportive living, and correctional facilities
• 596 total cases in these settings, including 314 among residents and 282 among staff

Ferrer stressed that for the cases reported in institutional settings, the majority are not outbreaks. The county declares an outbreak only when there are three or more confirmed cases. As soon as a case is confirmed, a team from the county contacts the facility and often visits to review with staff the protocols that are in place to prevent spread, Ferrer said.

She said some entire facilities have been placed on quarantine to prevent spread, but she hopes the county will not see outbreaks so bad that they would require evacuation, as was reported today in Riverside.

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