L.A. County Announces 18 New COVID-19 Deaths Sunday, as Cases Climb to Nearly 20,000

The LA County Department of Public Health confirmed 18 new deaths and 440 new cases of the Coronavirus on Sunday.

“The most difficult part of the COVID-19 pandemic is losing people to the virus. To all of you who have lost loved ones, we are deeply sorry,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health.

“As we have more information about who is dying, we are reminded that the work ahead requires that we address issues of disproportionality that result in higher rates of death among African Americans, Latinx and Asians as well as residents living in poverty.  Ensuring access to testing, early treatment and care, and economic support among those communities at higher risk of devastating outcomes associated with COVID-19, is essential.”

To date, the County public health department has identified 19,528 positive cases of the Coronavirus across all areas of LA County, and a total of 913 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Thirteen people who died were over the age of 65; four people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 to 40 years old. Fifteen people had underlying health conditions including 13 people over the age of 65 and two people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 837 people (98 percent of the cases); 37 percent of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 28 percent among White residents, 18% among Asian residents, 14 percent among African American residents, 1 percent among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1 percent among residents identifying with other races.  African Americans continue to have the highest rate of death for COVID-19 when compared to other groups at 13 deaths per 100,000 people.  The mortality rate for Latinx is 9.5; for Asians, the rate is 7.5; and for Whites, the rate is 5.5.  Individuals living in lower-income communities are three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than individuals living in wealthier communities, with the death rate of 16.5 deaths per 100,000 people in communities where 30% to 100% of residents are living in poverty compared to the death rate of 5.3 per 100,000 people in communities where less than 10% of residents are living in poverty.

As of Sunday, 4,380 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (23% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for over 117,000 individuals and 14 percent of people testing positive.