Update
June 23

The Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 34 new deaths and 2,364 new cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Twenty-seven people who died were over the age of 65, six people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40. Twenty-seven people had underlying health conditions including 20 people over the age of 65, six people between the ages of 41 and 65 years old and one person between the ages of 18 and 40.

To date, Public Health has identified 88,262 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,171 deaths. Ninety-four percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 2,951 people (99% of the cases reported by Public Health).

Upon further investigation, 44 cases reported earlier were not LA County residents. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for nearly 979,000 individuals and 8% of people testing positive.

The City of Glendale reports 1,299 cases; La Cañada Flintridge reports 70 cases; Eagle Rock reports 280 cases; Sunland reports 204 cases and Tujunga reports 165 cases. In the unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County, La Crescenta/Montrose reports 42 cases.

“To the family and friends of people who have passed away from COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace during this sad and difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, director of Public Health. “The recent increase in daily cases and rates of positive test results indicates that there is more community spread of COVID-19 in LA County. It is as important as ever to use the tools we have to slow the spread of the virus. Please practice physical distancing and wear a cloth face covering. If you have been exposed and/or if you have tested positive for COVID-19 or waiting for results, please self-isolate and stay away from other people, even those who live in your household. These actions save lives.”

Public Health continues to assess key recovery indicators to understand how COVID-19 is affecting communities and capacity to treat people who may become seriously ill. Public Health is seeing small increases in hospitalizations and in the seven-day average of the daily positivity rate. There are 1,515 people who are currently hospitalized, 27% of these people are in the ICU and 18% are on ventilators. Although this number is significantly lower than peaks of over 1,900 people hospitalized daily for COVID-19, this is higher than 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen in recent weeks. And while the cumulative positivity rate remains at 8%, the seven-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased to 8.8%. As the recovery journey continues, Public Health will monitor the data closely to see how increases in cases and rates of positivity affect the number of daily hospitalizations over the next few weeks. The collective goal is to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities.

Because this virus is still easily transmitted among people in contact with each other, the best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash hands frequently, avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, those who are sick should self-isolate, practice physical distancing and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household. It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside, or until they receive a negative result. If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a contact tracer to discuss how to protect themselves and others, to find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious. People who have underlying health conditions remain at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, so it will continue to be very important for the County’s vulnerable residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and medicine delivered, and to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

The Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things that can be done to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.