County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for June 29th, 2020.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) continues to see alarming trends of community spread. Today, the department is announcing 2,903 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the single largest one-day case count since the pandemic began.

Key metrics continue to show steep increases in community spread. The 7-day average of daily reported new cases of COVID-19 is nearly 2,000, an increase from the 1,379 average two weeks ago. There are 1,710 people currently hospitalized, higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen in recent weeks.

More than 1 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. Testing results are available for over 1,089,000 individuals, with 9% of people testing positive. The cumulative positivity rate has increased from 8% to 9%, and the 7-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased from lowest daily rate of 4.6% positivity in late May to 8.4% today.

“To everyone who is grieving a family member or a friend who has passed away from COVID-19, our hearts go out to you. We are so sorry for your loss,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “The alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations signals that we, as a community, need to take immediate action to slow the spread of COVID-19. Otherwise, we are quickly moving toward overwhelming our healthcare system and seeing even more devastating illness and death. Businesses must closely adhere to directives. For individuals, we are all still safer at home, but if you must be out, practice physical distancing and wear a cloth face covering at all times when you are around others. Our actions to slow the spread cannot wait – we need to do these actions now and for the weeks ahead in order to prevent even more serious illness and death.”

Everyone must always wear a face covering securely over your nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out and about. Businesses must continue to follow Public Health directives. It is the collective responsibility shared between everyone including businesses and residents to slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities and save lives.

In addition to the 2,903 new cases, Public Health has confirmed 22 new deaths of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Eighteen people who died were over the age of 65 years old and four people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old. Eighteen people had underlying health conditions including 17 people over the age of 65 years old and one person between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. To date, Public Health has identified 100,772 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,326 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,093 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 43% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 27% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 19 cases reported earlier were not LA County residents.

Forty-two percent of cases are now among individuals between the ages of 18 and 40. While cases in this age range typically have lower risk for serious illness or death, Public Health is concerned they may unknowingly infect parents, grandparents, and friends and family who have underlying health conditions and who are at greater risk for serious illness and death. Everyone must continue to follow physical distancing and infection control directives 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.

The Reopening Protocols, 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.