County officials provide updates, and answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for July 15th, 2020.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirms the highest number of new hospitalizations reported in a day with 2,193 people currently hospitalized, surpassing yesterday’s number.

Out of the 2,193 confirmed COVID-19 cases currently hospitalized, 26% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 17% are confirmed cases on ventilators. The 3-day average for people hospitalized is 2,084. This is more people hospitalized each day for COVID-19 than at any point during the pandemic.

Data shows younger people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old are being hospitalized at a higher rate than seen before.

Public Health has confirmed 44 new deaths and 2,758 new cases of COVID-19.

At the beginning of June, the 7-day average of new cases was 1,452. Now the 7-day average is 2,859 new cases a day. This is double the rate from six weeks ago and higher than any point during this entire pandemic.

Of the 44 new deaths, 27 people who died were over the age of 65 years old, 13 people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Thirty-four people had underlying health conditions including 25 people over the age of 65 years old, eight people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person between the ages of 18 to 40 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

Testing results are available for over 1,409,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive.

“To the families that are mourning their loved one who has passed away from COVID-19, we mourn with you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are in an alarming and dangerous phase in this pandemic here in Los Angeles County, along with other counties in this state. We need to protect the capacity in our healthcare system so that we’re all able to access critical care if we need it. Everyone must help. Business owners and operators have a responsibility to their employees and their families to provide a safe work environment that adheres to all of the health officer directives — this responsibility is important, now more than ever, as we continue our response to this deadly virus. ”

To date, Public Health has identified 143,009 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,932 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,598 people (98 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 45% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 26% among White residents, 16% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 2% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 56 cases and six deaths reported earlier were not LA County residents.

Data continues to expose disproportionality in health outcomes by race, ethnicity and income level data. African American/Black and Latino/Latinx people are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 when compared to White people. Communities with high levels of poverty are four times as likely to die of COVID-19 compared to residents with the highest income. The high rates of cases and deaths reflect a number of factors, including the effects of systemic racism and discrimination in the Country and a lack of access to the resources and opportunities needed for good health.

Public Health modified its Health Officer Order to align with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directives to prevent more cases, more serious illnesses, increased hospitalizations and more deaths.

The Order requires the closure of the following sectors for all indoor operations:

• Gyms and Fitness Centers
• Places of Worship
• Indoor Protests
• Offices for Non-Critical Infrastructure Sectors as identified at covid19.ca.gov
• Personal Care Services(including nail salons, massage parlors, and tattoo parlors)
• Hair Salons and Barbershops
• Indoor Malls

Bars, indoor dining at restaurants, indoor museums, indoor operations at zoos and aquariums, and cardrooms and satellite wagering facilities remain closed and all events and gatherings unless specifically allowed by this Order remain prohibited.

Business owners and residents must take immediate action in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Stay home if you are elderly or have serious underlying health conditions. Everyone else should stay home as much as possible, and limit activities outside of your home to what is essential – work, getting groceries and medicine, and medical visits. Always wear a face covering and keep physical distance when you are outside your home and wash your hands frequently. The actions of everyone to slow the spread cannot wait.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results, to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside. If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, to find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

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.