County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for May 27th, 2020.

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 53 new deaths and 933 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Thirty-five people who died were over the age of 65 years old; 14 people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Forty-three people had underlying health conditions including 30 people over the age of 65 years old, 12 people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health has identified 48,700 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 2,195 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 2,024 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health) 40% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 17% 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, 55 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 6,283 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (13% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,477 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 over 517,000 individuals and 8% of people testing positive.

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 30 people who died from COVID-19 worked in a healthcare setting; 22 people who died worked in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, four people worked in hospitals, one person worked in a correctional facility, and one person worked in an outpatient facility. For one health care worker who passed away, their workplace setting is not specified. A total of 4,861 confirmed cases of COVID-19 occurred among healthcare workers and first responders; this is an additional 563 new cases reported since the previous week. Six 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. Fifty-nine percent of these cases reported a known source of exposure, and 80% of healthcare workers with known exposure reported being exposed in a healthcare facility. Healthcare workers who are positive worked at 26 different occupational settings, with the vast majority of cases among healthcare workers from skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.

“For all of you who have lost someone you love to COVID-19, we are so sorry. Through this sad and difficult time, we keep you in our thoughts and prayers every day,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “The new Health Officer Order allows more sectors to reopen, adhering to strict distancing and infection control directives. Since none of us wants the recovery to lead to many more deaths, we need to do our part to take care of each other. This means being diligent about physical distancing and wearing cloth face coverings whenever you are around people who are not from your household. These are our essential tools and we need to commit to always using them.”

The new Health Officer Order issued yesterday, called Safer at Work and in the Community, allows for the reopening of houses of worship, office worksites, in-store shopping at retail establishments, including indoor malls and shopping centers, flea markets, swap meets and drive-in movie theaters. Houses of worship can operate at 25% capacity or with a maximum of 100 people, whichever is lower, and retail establishments can operate at 50% capacity. Pools, hot tubs and saunas that are in a multi-unit residence or part of a homeowners’ association can also open. Political protests with limited numbers of participants are also allowed. This Order aligns the County with the State’s Orders. Everyone must continue to follow distancing and infection control protocols 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 and private gatherings of any number of people outside of a single household unit are still not permitted except for public protests and faith-bases services as described in the Order. The Health Officer Order continues to require specific higher-risk businesses to remain closed and prohibit dining in at restaurants. Restaurants are still allowed to serve food to customer via delivery, take-out or drive-thru.

As the recovery journey continues, more people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19, more cases, and more hospitalizations and deaths. Because there is a 14-day incubation period for COVID-19, the actions everyone takes today will impact where numbers are in two or three weeks. The best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing, 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.

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. 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 .