LA County Surpasses 200K Coronavirus Cases, Death Toll At 4,869
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Thursday reported 3,290 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 48 additional deaths, bringing countywide totals to 201,106 confirmed cases and 4,869 deaths.
Health officials said Thursday's high number of new cases was due, in part, to a backlog of test results received from one lab. The department also said it anticipated receiving a backlog of cases once issues with the state's electronic lab system are resolved.
Those issues have resulted in the undercount of positive cases throughout L.A. County and further impacts case reporting and contact tracing efforts, though data sources that track other key indicators such as hospitalizations and deaths have not been impacted.
As of Thursday, 1,741 confirmed coronavirus patients were hospitalized with 29% being treated in intensive care units — a continued decrease in hospitalized patients from mid-July when numbers hovered around 2,200.
Health officials reported that the data continued to expose disproportionate health outcomes by race, ethnicity and income level. Black and Latinx residents are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white residents and residents in communities with high level of poverty are four times as likely to die compared to residents living in communities with the highest income levels, according to the data.
The department also reported that it continues to respond to a high volume of health officer order complaints.
Since March, 20,139 complaints have been filed with investigations conducted at more than 19,000 restaurants, 4,300 grocery stores and 3,600 other businesses, the department said. Of those investigated, 27 restaurants and 76 other businesses — including seven gyms — have been shut down for ongoing violations.
With testing results are available for nearly 1.86 million individuals, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 10%.
