County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for May 11th, 2020.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 39 new deaths and 591 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Thirty-three people who died were over the age of 65 years old; four 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. Twenty-five people had underlying health conditions including 22 people over the age of 65 years old and three people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health has identified 32,258 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 1,569 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,445 people (99 percent of the cases); 38% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 18% 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, 10 cases reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 5,437 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (17% 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 240,000 individuals and 12% of people testing positive. This is a correction to yesterday’s count of over 245,000 individuals tested and is due to the inclusion of serology test results.

Public Health continues tracking the number of positive cases and deaths among healthcare workers related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Public Health has confirmed 20 people who died from COVID-19 worked in a healthcare setting; fourteen people who died worked in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, three people worked in hospitals, one person worked in a correctional facility, and for two people who died, their work setting was not specified. A total of 3,614 confirmed cases of COVID-19 occurred among healthcare workers and first responders; this is an additional 636 new cases reported since the previous week. Seven percent of healthcare workers with COVID-19 have been hospitalized. Forty-six percent of cases are among nurses, though cases have been identified among a range of occupational roles, including caregivers, people who work in administration, physicians and medical assistants. About 58% of these cases do not know or did not report how they were exposed. However, 79% of healthcare workers with known exposure were exposed in a healthcare facility. Healthcare workers who are positive worked at 25 different occupational settings, and the vast majority of cases are among healthcare workers from skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.

“As we report these numbers every day, we know that many families are suffering the loss of loved ones. We are so very sorry for your loss. You are in our thoughts and prayers every day,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “For those of you who were out this weekend as we began our recovery journey, thank you so much for following physical distancing measures and other rules for using reopened outdoor space, and thank you to the Department of Parks and Recreations and their partners for all of the work they’re doing to keep people safe. Our retail establishments will need to be sure not to open for curbside pickup until they are able to meet all the directives in the Health Officer Order and comply with the protocols.”

Currently, LA County is in phase two of the five-stage roadmap to recovery which allows florists and some retailers to offer curbside pickup only, car dealership showrooms to reopen with appropriate physical distancing and infection control measures, and trails and golf courses to reopen with pro shops remaining closed to public entry. Public Health surveyed businesses this weekend to determine if physical distancing and infection control measures were being followed. Of the 410 businesses surveyed, 162 were in violation of the Health Officer Order because they were allowing customers into stores, not following physical distancing measures and not requiring customers to wear cloth face coverings. As a reminder, retail establishments are closed to public entry and must ensure compliance with all protocols before reopening. Inspectors will continue to monitor for compliance and ensure that all adhere to the Health Officer Order.

Until the final stage five is reached, Health Officer Orders and directives will continue to ensure the slow of spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities. 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/ .

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