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MEDIA RELEASE
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 91 new deaths and 1,407 new cases of COVID-19. As of March 2, Public Health identified 1,194,242 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 21,554 deaths.
There are 1,502 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 32% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 5,844,000 individuals with 19% of people testing positive. Tuesday’s daily test positivity rate is 2.6%.
Los Angeles County remains in the most restrictive purple tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In order to move into the less restrictive red tier that allows for additional re-openings, L.A. County’s daily case rate must be at or below 7 new cases per 100,000 people and the County’s test positivity rate must be at or below 8%. Tuesday, the State released updated numbers; L.A. County’s adjusted case rate is 7.2 new cases per 100,000 people and the test positivity rate is 3.5%. If Los Angeles County’s adjusted case rate drops to 7 new cases per 100,000 people next week, the County must continue to show a case rate of 7 new cases per 100,000 people or less for two consecutive weeks before it can move to the red tier and be eligible for additional re-openings, including on-site learning for grades 7 through 12.
Of the 91 new deaths reported Tuesday, 26 people that passed away were over the age of 80, 38 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 20 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, six people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29.
The number of COVID-19 cases among people experiencing homelessness substantially declined from the peak of 620 weekly cases reported around the Christmas holiday to 91 new cases reported this week. This includes 63 cases from previous weeks that were newly identified and were included in the new case totals. To date, Public Health has identified 6,927 cases among people experiencing homelessness, and 180 people who were experiencing homelessness have passed away from COVID-19. Of the people experiencing homelessness who passed away, 85 were sheltered, 60 were unsheltered, and for 18 people who passed away, their sheltered status was unknown. The County continues working with partner organizations in efforts to reduce virus transmission and protect people experiencing homelessness from COVID-19 infection.
“We send our deepest sympathies to everyone who lost a loved one or friend to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “L.A. County is very close to meeting the metric thresholds for the less restrictive red tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safety Economy, which will provide our county with more opportunities to reopen for additional activities. Sine there is still widespread transmission occurring in our county, we are hoping we do not see increases in the number of daily cases in the upcoming weeks that will pause our recovery journey and cause more hospitalizations. With an increase in the circulation of variants, we need to ask our residents, workers, and businesses to continue following the safety measures and implement Health Officer Order directives, including wearing a mask and physically distancing from others not in your household to prevent spread.”
COVID-19 vaccine remains limited in L.A. County. When Johnson & Johnson doses come into L.A. County, a vaccine that is 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 hospitalization and death, we are hopeful this will improve vaccine supply. The County is working to ensure that eligible residents and workers in the hardest hit communities have increased access to vaccines. Healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, people 65 or older, education and childcare workers, food and agriculture workers, and emergency service workers and law enforcement are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
For information about vaccine appointments in L.A. County and when your turn is coming up, to sign up for a vaccination newsletter, and much more, visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).
County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.
