LA County Will Share Its Recovery Plan This Week

By Brian Frank

Published May 4, 2020 12:58 PM

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Shortly after the governor shared plans for gradually reopening California, Los Angeles County indicated it would release its own plans later in the week.

Without giving many details, county public health director Barbara Ferrer said she recognized a shared desire for businesses to begin reopening and for people to get back to work.

But Ferrer said COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, will continue to "spread in our community for months to come," and she mostly laid out a vision for a life very similar to what we're experiencing now:

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"There is a lot at stake as we reopen, and doing our part becomes more important than ever. The virus has not changed, and it's still easily transmitted amongst people who are in close contact with each other, and the virus remains deadly... As we enter recovery, it will be really important for you to continue to stay at home as much as possible and to have your essential goods and services delivered to your house, whenever possible."

Businesses that are planning to reopen will have to follow strict protocols to maximize infection control and keep employees and customers safe, Ferrer said.

"Recovery is a journey, and one that will take many months, and I want us all to do this journey together and be prepared that there will be new normals," she said.

Here are some of the latest numbers she shared from L.A. County:

28 more people died — 22 older than 65, and 18 of those with underlying health conditions
568 new cases (Ferrer said numbers on Monday tend to be lower because very little testing happens over the weekend)
26,217 total cases now
1,256 total have died so far in L.A. County
5,019 cases (or 19%) were at some point hospitalized
1,819 people are currently hospitalized — 30% in the ICU and 17% on ventilators. These numbers have declined for the last three days.
2,978 confirmed cases among health care workers and first responders, an increase of more than 1,000 over last week due in part to increased testing.
15 health care workers have died — 12 of them work in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities

Here are some of the latest numbers on cases in institutional settings:

6,285 total institutional cases, including 3,900 residents and 2,385 employees — and 616 people, primarily in skilled nursing facilities, have died, representing nearly half of all coronavirus deaths in L.A. County

196 confirmed cases among the homeless — 111 were among the sheltered, were isolated and had their close contacts quarantined. The majority were at Union Rescue Mission.
265 confirmed cases in jails, including 180 incarcerated and 85 staff
123 cases in state prison — 92 among the incarcerated and 31 staff
533 cases in federal prisons, 525 among incarcerated and 8 staff, the vast majority of these cases are at Terminal Island.

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