Coronavirus In L.A. County: Fewer Deaths Since Thursday, But New Cases Spike – Update

Erik Pedersen
·9 min read

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UPDATED, 1: 25 PM: Los Angeles County has broken a three-day run of record COVID-19 deaths, but health officials acknowledged a spike in new cases Friday.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said 40 county residents died from the coronavirus during the past 24 hours — down from 55, 42 and 40 during the past three days. That brings the death toll in Los Angeles County to 495.

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Ferrer also said today that 567 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in the region since Thursday, a 42% surge from 399 on Thursday. L.A. County now has 11,391 confirmed cases.

She added today that four nursing homes in the county have had outbreaks of 40 or more people testing positive for coronavirus and 20 have had 20 or more positive cases.

“We’ve been talking a lot this week about moving forward and being able at some point in the near future lift some of the ‘safer at home’ restrictions,” Ferrer said. “COVID-19, as you note from all the numbers I report, has spread across our entire community, so we need to continue to do all we can do to slow the spread and prevent as many infections as possible while we plan for our recovery.”

County officials also announced today a deal with Airbnb, in coordination with the City of Los Angeles to provide free housing to as many as 1,000 healthcare workers and first responders:

The county also remided residents of the new face-covering guidelines that took effect this week:

UPDATED, April 16: For a third consecutive day, Los Angeles County posted a single-day record for new COVID-19 deaths. Fifty-five more people in the region died of the viirus in the past 24 hours, local health officials said Thursday. The region now has seen 457 deaths due to the outbreak.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, also said during her daily update that 399 new confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in L.A. County during the past day. That brings the total number to 10,854, it’s down from the 472 new cases reported Wednesday.

UPDATED, April 16: Los Angeles County posted a single-day record 42 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, local health officials said Wednesday. The region now has seen 402 deaths due to the virus.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said 472 new confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in L.A. County during the past day, bringing the total number to 10,496.

Also today, three more testing sites began operating in the county — in the parking lot of the Forum in Inglewood, at the Bellflower Civic Center and the San Gabriel Valley airport in El Monte. Tests take five to 10 minutes to complete and are available by appointment only. Wait times might vary depending on demand.

Here is a list of all the testing sites in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday:

Antelope Valley Mall, Palmdale
Pomona Fairplex, Gate 17
South Bay Galleria, Redondo Beach
Carbon Health (Walk-up only), Echo Park
Crenshaw Christian Center, Los Angeles
Glendale Memorial Hospital
Hansen Dam Recreational Center, Lake View Terrace
High Desert Medical Group, Lancaster
Hotchkin Memorial Training Center, Los Angeles
VA Parking Lot 15 at corner of Constitution and Davis, Los Angeles
Northridge Hospital Medical Center (enter on Reseda Blvd.)
Lincoln Park, Los Angeles
AltaMed Medical and Dental Group, Commerce
AltaMed Medical Group, Pico Rivera
AltaMed Medical and Dental Group, South Gate
Long Beach City College
AltaMed Medical and Dental Group, West Covina
Charles R. Drew Campus, Los Angeles
Santa Clarita Testing Site, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road
Pasadena Testing Site, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive
East LA College, Monterey Park
Warner Center, Woodland Hills
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
Kedren Community Health Center (Walk-up only), Los Angeles
Altamed Medical Group, Los Angeles
Bellflower Civic Center
The Forum, Inglewood
San Gabriel Valley Airport, El Monte
Boyle Heights, 1724 Pennsylvania Ave.

PREVIOUSLY, April 14: Los Angeles County posted a single-day record 40 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, local health officials said Tuesday. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said the region’s death toll now stands at 360 and that the total number of local cases has topped 10,000.

Also today, the Board of Supervisors adopted an emergency ordinance to protect grocery, drug store and food delivery workers during the pandemic. The move requires employers to sanitize and stock bathrooms with necessary supplies, clean stores and shopping carts between uses and provide security to enforce social distancing, among other standards.

“In the middle of this global health emergency, our grocery store, delivery and drug store workers are now front-line responders,” said Supervisor Janice Hanh, who backed the measure with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “Their work is essential to keeping our county running and we need to make sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs safely.”

PREVIOUSLY, April 10: Los Angeles County saw a second consecutive day of fewer COVID-19 deaths, as local health officials confirmed a “flattening of the curve” as residents continue to practice social distancing.

Meanwhile, however, the county’s stay-at-home and business-closure orders were extended to at least May 15. The earlier order was set to expire in nine days. Officials said that while physical-distancing mandates have slowed the spread of coronavirus dramatically, lifting them now could lead to nearly 96% of the local population being infected by August.

Authorities noted, however, that there is no timetable for when the social-distancing rules will be lifted — saying only that the situation will be re-evaluated in the coming weeks.

L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas issued a statement today about the extended social-distancing mandate. Read it below.

Beverly Hills Crop: Officials Order People To Wear Face Masks Whenever They’re Outside In The City

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health director, said during her daily update Friday that 18 people died in the region during the past 24 hours. That’s seven fewer than Thursday, which in turn was four fewer that the day before.

She also said, however, that 475 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the county, 50 more than the previous day.

“Because everyone here is doing their part, because people are heeding the directives, we have seen what we now can confirm what is in fact a flattening of the curve in a way that’s actually saving lives and allowing us to have a chance at making sure that our health care system remains able to serve all who need care,” Ferrer said today. “But because there are so many people who are infected in L.A. County, and because there’s still so much spread, we have to continue to keep ourselves physically apart from each other during the next few weeks.”

Also today, Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, urged people to keep up their self-isolating efforts.

“If you were to reduce physical distancing to the pre-health officer-order levels,” she said, “virtually all individuals in Los Angeles County — 95.6% per the model — would be infected by the pandemic by August 1, 2020. That number is starkly reduced, down to about 30%, if we maintain the current levels of physical distancing.”

She added: “If we’re able to increase the level of physical distancing — people are able to remain at home more than they are today — then we could reduce the number of infected individuals even further, down to an estimated 5.5%.”

Today also is when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s new mandate about face coverings takes effect. He said Tuesday that “starting Friday, April 10th, employees and customers at many non-medical essential businesses such as grocery stores will be required to wear face coverings.” He also authorized businesses to refuse service to customers who aren’t wearing masks.

Here is Ridley-Thomas’ statement about the extended social-distancing mandate:

“With this modeling data, the experts at the Department of Health Services have provided an informed perspective on what the weeks ahead could look like. The results are promising – but only if we don’t get complacent.

“The analysis shows our hospitals can handle the anticipated surge of patients without running out of equipment like ventilators, but — and this is crucial — it’s up to all of us to keep it that way.

“We can save lives by staying at home and avoiding infection. Some of the lives we save may be those of our frontline and essential workers – heroes. Let’s stay home for them, so they can continue to go to work for all of us.

“The modeling data is a cautionary tale, but the outcome is up to us. LA County is in a position to preempt hospital surges and deaths — but only with our help. I encourage every Angeleno to continue to follow the extended public health order and stay at home.

“As we move forward, we must continue to be guided by real-time comprehensive data, including demographic and socioeconomic data. This is imperative for us to remain effective in getting a handle on this pandemic and its unprecedented impact on our community.”

City News Service contributed to this report.

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