Coronavirus: 40 New Cases, 2nd Death Reported In LA County
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Public health officials say a second person in Los Angeles County has died from coronavirus.
County health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said the victim was a 34-year-old man with an underlying health condition and lived in an area near Pasadena.
Jeffrey Ghazarian, from Glendora, has now become one of the youngest patients in the United States to die from the novel coronavirus. His sister wrote on Facebook that he suffered a lot and put up a good fight.
TMZ reported that Ghazarian had tested positive for the virus a few days ago after traveling to Florida at the beginning of March.
Ghazarian's family told TMZ that he was a high-risk patient who beat testicular cancer and has a history of asthma as a child.
"This is not the time to have a party at your house," Ferrer said. "This is not the time to go hang out with a whole crowd of people at the beach. This is not the time to be crowding up on the trails in our beautiful parks. This is absolutely the time for everyone to practice social distancing."
In all, 40 new cases have been reported countywide, according to Ferrer. That brings the L.A. County total to 230, in addition to the two new cases reported earlier Thursday in Long Beach, which now has 12 cases.
Ferrer urged all residents to continue to practice social distancing and use discretion before deciding whether to be tested for COVID-19.
"If you have no symptoms, you don't need to be tested," she said. "Assume you may be infected and others around you may be infected."
