Los Angeles County Covid Cases Exceed 10,000, With a Death Rate of 3.6%

4/14/20. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of the Los Angeles County Dept of Public Health, briefed listeners on the latest Coronavirus numbers. LA County experienced 40 new Coronavirus deaths--the highest number LA County has ever reported in a single day. Total number of County deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic is now 360. This means the mortality rate is 3.6%.

Recently, the racial makeup of Covid-19 casualties has been discussed. Some argue that racial disparities have increased deaths in certain communities. Dr. Ferrer gave the latest breakdown: "16% black, 17% Asian, 34% LatinX, 32% white, 2% other," Ferrer said.

There are 670 new LA County Covid cases, for a total of 10,047. 2517 have been hospitalized, 25% of all cases. 1433 currently hospitalized, 33% in ICU, 20% of LA County Covid-19 patients are on ventilators.

As for senior living facilities, "199 institutions have Covid-19, 13 reporting new cases for the first time yesterday," she said. Senior care facilities report 1596 cases, which breaks down as 850 residents, 747 staff. 109 residents of senior living facilities in LA have died. Includes nursing homes which account for 31% of all deaths in LA County.

LA County jails have reported 64 cases in jails, including 11 inmates and 53 staff. Nine County jail inmates have tested positive, 559 are quarantined.

29 cases have been reported in California State prisons--19 inmates, 10 staff. Four staff in juvenile facilities have developed Covid-19.

So far, 26 homeless people in LA County have tested positive. Four of these are residents of homeless shelters.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. reports 34 positive tests. 435 Sheriff's dept employees have been quarantined, 254 returned to work.

16 employees of the LA County Fire Dept have tested positive. 19 have been quarantined, 13 have returned to work.

63,000 people have been tested so far in LA County. Of these, 11 per cent have tested positive. 10,000 new tests were administered Monday.

"We are still testing only symptomatic people," said Dr. Ferrer. "We are not yet on the other side of the pandemic. The public still needs to stay home. Wear masks if you have to go out, and physically distance. When we relax orders, there will be new cases," she said, adding that we have to avoid a surge.

"Our goal is to stay open, not close again. Four different areas we need to focus on. 1.) Care for people who are sick. All health care workers need PPE. 2.) We need to be able to protect most vulnerable. 3.) We need widespread capacity for testing. We need resources for people to self-isolate. 4.) Good plans in place to continue physical distancing. People must be six feet apart and wear masks. Reopening safely will be different for different businesses. Goal of getting people back to work is paramount.