County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for May 1st, 2020.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 62 new deaths and 1,065 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Forty-six people who died were over the age of 65 years old, seven people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Forty-six people had underlying health conditions including 39 people over the age of 65 years old and seven people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Eight deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 24,215 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 1,172 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,069 people (98 percent of the cases); 38% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 19% among Asian residents, 13% among African American residents, 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. African Americans, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and people living in communities with high levels of poverty continue to have the highest rate of death per 100,000 people for COVID-19 when compared to other groups. Upon further investigation, 32 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 4,880 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (21% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for over 152,000 individuals and 14% of people testing positive.

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidance on how long people who are positive for COVID-19 should self-isolate. New evidence suggests it may take longer for the virus to shed, which means that an infected person may be able to infect other people for a longer period of time than was initially thought. People who are positive or presumed positive for COVID-19 should now self-isolate for 10 days and 72 hours after fever and symptoms subside. This means you must stay home until your fever has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in your respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) for at least 3 days (72 hours) after recovery, AND at least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared or you were tested. If you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is presumed to be infected with COVID-19, you must quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with that individual. If you begin experiencing symptoms, you must self-isolate for 10 days and 72 hours after fever and symptoms subside. Individuals who are elderly or who have underlying health conditions may be at higher risk of serious illness and should contact their doctor as soon as they are sick.

“To all of you who are mourning the loss of family members or friends who have passed away from COVID-19, we are mourning with you and we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “LA County continues to be under the Safer at Home order, and while we are planning for recovery, there will still need to be Health Officer orders and directives that make sure we open slowly and as carefully as possible to avoid huge outbreaks and overwhelming our healthcare system. We are grateful to all who continue to do your part to follow directives – it is saving lives.”

The best protection against COVID-19 is to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing (especially by staying at home) and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household.

As Public Health plans on relaxing some of the previsions of the Safer at Home Order, businesses and residents will need to continue to observe and practice physical distancing requirements and take infection control precautions. Increased interactions between LA County residents and workers can increase the risk and rate of transmission of COVID-19 within the community. Health Officer orders and directives will still continue to ensure it is safe for as many people to be able to work as possible while still slowing the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities.

An interactive dashboard is available that provides an overview on COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths along with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity. To view Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, visit: http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/ .

Additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov .