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

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 76 new deaths and 1,183 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Fifty-two people who died were over the age of 65 years old; 19 people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Sixty-four people had underlying health conditions including 48 people over the age of 65 years old, 14 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and two people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and two deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 39,573 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 1,913 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,722 people (99 percent of the cases); 39% 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. Upon further investigation, 61 cases and two deaths reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 5,914 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (15% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,549 people who are currently hospitalized, 27% of these people are in the ICU and 19% are on ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for nearly 359,000 individuals and 9% of people testing positive.

“Each day, as we share this information with you, we know there are people across our community who have suffered tremendous loss. For those of you mourning the passing of a loved one, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As we continue to reopen more places and spaces in the weeks ahead, we will need to use the tools of physical distancing and wearing cloth face coverings to continue to slow the spread. We don’t yet have a vaccine but we do have each other. Each of us has the power to protect another person.”

The current Health Officer Order replaces the previous Health Officer Order and allows for retailers and manufacturers, select recreational facilities, and beaches to reopen. Retailers remain closed to public entry and beaches are open for active recreation only. Retail businesses, manufacturing and logistic businesses are required to prepare, implement and post their plan for adhering to directives including distancing and infection control practices that protect both employees and customers. Employees who can work from home should be doing so, and any staff who are in a group at greater risk of serious illness from COVID-19, like older adults and people with underlying health conditions, should be assigned work that can be done from home, if possible. All employees need to be given a written copy of the protocol for keeping them safe while working. Everyone must follow distancing and infection control protocols, stay at least six feet apart and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household.

Public Health will assess the activities allowed by the Order on an ongoing basis. Residents can track progress on a Recovery Dashboard as well. This Order continues to require that specific higher-risk businesses remain closed and prohibits public and private gatherings of any number of people outside of a single household unit. Currently, LA County is in stage two of the five-stage Roadmap to Recovery and until the final stage five is reached, Health Officer Orders and directives will continue to ensure that we slow 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. The Health Officer Order, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov .

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. 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.