County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for May 6th, 2020.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 55 new deaths and 851 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Forty-one people who died were over the age of 65 years old and 12 people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Thirty-eight people had underlying health conditions including 27 people over the age of 65 years old and 11 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and one death by the City of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 28,644 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 1,367 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,260 people (99 percent of the cases); 39% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 19% among Asian residents, 12% 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, 22 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 5,142 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (19% 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 nearly 192,000 individuals and 13% of people testing positive.

“Our hearts are with all of you who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. We are so sorry for your loss, and hope you find healing and peace at this very difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Today we are sharing the County’s Roadmap to Recovery to ensure that as we reopen our businesses we do so in a way that is safe for employees and customers, continues to slow the spread of the virus, and does not result in increases in our death rate from COVID-19. I am so grateful to all of you have worked together to get us to a place where a slow, safe reopening is possible.”

As recovery planning continues, Public Health is issuing a five-stage roadmap to recovery roadmap to recovery that describes a phased approach to relaxing select directives of the Safer at Home Order and a reopening process for certain business sectors. LA County is currently in stage one of the Safer at Home recovery stage. However, the County anticipates beginning stage two as soon as Friday, May 8 by allowing florists and some retailers to offer curbside pickup. Car dealerships, golf courses and trails can also open with appropriate safeguards in place. Physical distancing and infection control protocols must be adhered to and cloth facing coverings must be worn. Later next week additional restrictions will be lifted to include many retailers, manufacturers, and other recreational facilities. The next three stages include the potential opening in phases of higher-risk businesses like movie theaters, schools, colleges and universities, followed by conventions and spectator events, to finally normal operations. Each sector will have safe reopening protocols that must be adhered to.

Until final stage five is reached, Health Officer Orders and directives will still continue to ensure that we slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities. Physical distancing, wearing cloth face coverings, frequent hand washing, self-isolation and self-quarantine will continue to be very important throughout the foreseeable future. People who have underlying health conditions will still be 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 know to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

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 .