Watch CBS News

LA County Reports Increase In MIS-C Cases In Children

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Friday reported 1,509 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 31 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 238,458 cases and 5,732 deaths.

Health officials also reported three additional cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children — MIS-C — bringing the total number of reported cases to 28 in L.A. County.

According to the health department, the illness affects children under the age of 21 who may have been exposed to COVID-19 or had COVID-19 and causes different body parts to become inflamed — including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs.

Of the 28 reported MIS-C cases, 28% were in children under the age of 5, 39% were between the ages of 6 and 12 and 32% were between the ages of 13 and 20. The majority of the cases — 71% — were reported in Latinx children. There are no reported deaths from the illness.

"Over 21,000 COVID-19 cases have occurred in children ages 0 to 17 years old," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "COVID-19 spreads among children the same way it spreads among adults – exposure to a symptomatic or asymptomatic people infected with the virus."

Also on Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a revised recovery roadmap that placed L.A. County in Tier 1, which would allow the re-opening of both hair salons for indoor services and indoor shopping centers for retail establishments, though the county said it was not amending its order to allow that to happen.

"As such, since County orders may be more restrictive than State guidance, all current restrictions remain in place until the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Board of Supervisors have an opportunity to review the suggested guidance from the State and take actions that are appropriate for our County," the department said.

As of Friday, health officials said there were 1,168 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized, with 32% being treated in intensive care units. The department said this was the third straight day with fewer than 1,200 hospitalizations.

With testing results available for more than 2.25 million people, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 10%.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.