South Bay now has 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases; LA County totals 536, two more deaths
Los Angeles County saw its biggest uptick yet in the novel coronavirus outbreak, with 128 new confirmed cases bringing the countywide total to 536, according to data released Monday by the Public Health Department. County health officials also confirmed two more deaths due to COVID-19, bringing that total to seven. Eight new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the South Bay, which now has 55 confirmed cases.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Public Health Department, expressed concern that social distancing measures are not being consistently practiced, especially in public recreation areas. As a result, she said, the County has closed all its trails and on Monday began closing beach parking lots.
Ferrer said the data is clear that many younger people, who have been particularly resistant to social distancing, are testing positive with COVID-19. She said 42 percent of those who have tested positive are between the ages of 18 and 40.
“For those who are not following social distancing requirements — it is inappropriate for people to congregate at parks, beaches, piers, or on the trails,” Ferrer said. “You cannot be in spaces and places where you are not able to socially distance. And that means you need to keep apart from each other at least by six feet. We need your help. Social distancing isn’t a ‘sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.’ For this to be successful, we all need to practice social distancing all of the time, particularly when we are in any public spaces.”
“There are many people, and everyone saw the pictures all weekend, who are congregating on our trails, and on the beaches,” Ferrer said. “This is not appropriate and we ask you when you are out and about wherever you are to practice the maximum of social distancing possible…We all need to operate with the assumption that there are COVID-19 positive people anywhere and that we all have the potential to infect others, or become infected.”
Manhattan Beach registered two more positive COVID-19 cases and now has nine cases, the most in the South Bay, followed by Lomita with eight cases, Carson with six, and Redondo Beach with five.
County officials and members of the Los Angeles City Council announced that 20,000 test kits had been procured from Seegene Technologies, a South Korea company that is the largest maker of COVID-19 in the world. Those tests will be used to test first-responders; over the two to three weeks, as up to 100,000 tests begin to arrive in LA County from Seegene, broader testing will be phased in until testing is widespread publicly.
“We cannot beat a pandemic we cannot see, and we cannot properly address this crisis until we better understand it,” said L.A. City Councilperson David Ryu said. “The United States has fallen behind other nations in response to this pandemic, and we can’t wait on the federal government to fix it.”
Dr. Clayton Kazan, the medical director for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said that first-responders are on the frontline of the pandemic and are necessarily prioritized both for their own and the larger public’s protection.
“These paramedics, medical staff, firefighters, and other essential personnel are heroes in this crisis,” said Kazan, who is overseeing the implementation of testing countywide. “They are selflessly putting themselves on the line every day to fulfill their mission of public safety. We owe it to them to do everything we can to ensure their safety, as well as their family members.”
At today’s press conference, Ferrer was asked about the apparent outbreak at Kensington Redondo Beach, an assisted living facility where two workers and a resident have tested positive. She said outbreaks such as that one are under investigation and that such facilities are fully quarantined.
“We have a number of outbreaks in some of our senior facilities that we are investigating right now… We do send out a team to investigate in all institutional settings, particularly where there is at risk and vulnerable populations,” Ferrer said. “And that team really helps make sure that we immediately take action in general, where there is one or more cases in a high-risk institutional setting many people in that setting are quarantined. For those of you who have loved ones in that setting, I want you to know that means there can be no visitors. And we know how hard that is, but this is a time to figure out how to connect electronically, digitally with those that you love.”
Laboratory Confirmed Cases — 536 Total Cases
- Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas) — 516*
- Long Beach — 17
- Pasadena — 3
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- 0 to 17 — 9
- 18 to 40 –217
- 41 to 65 –198
- over 65 –92
Investigation
- – Investigated Cases 352
Hospitalization and Death (among Investigated Cases)
- Hospitalized (Ever) 90
- Deaths 7
CITY / COMMUNITY**
- Agoura Hills 1
- Alhambra 4
- Altadena 5
- Arcadia 3
- Athens 1
- Baldwin Hills 3
- Bellflower 3
- Beverly Hills 12
- Beverlywood 7
- Boyle Heights 5
- Brentwood 27
- Burbank 2
- Calabasas 3
- Canoga Park 2
- Carson 6
- Castaic 1
- Century City 4
- Century Palms/Cove 1
- Cerritos 2
- Cloverdale/Cochran 1
- Compton 1
- Covina 1
- Crestview 6
- Culver City 5
- Del Rey 2
- Diamond Bar 2
- Downtown 2
- Duarte 1
- Eagle Rock 2
- East Hollywood 1
- East Los Angeles 2
- Echo Park 2
- El Segundo 1
- Encino 10
- Exposition Park 1
- Florence 1
- Gardena 1
- Glendale 9
- Glendora 1
- Granada Hills 5
- Hancock Park 6
- Hawthorne 3
- Hollywood 14
- Hollywood Hills 7
- Hyde Park 1
- Inglewood 3
- Koreatown 3
- La Canada Flintridge 2
- La Mirada 3
- La Verne 2
- Lake Balboa 2
- Lakewood 1
- Lancaster 7
- Lawndale 2
- Lincoln Heights 1
- Lomita 8
- Los Feliz 2
- Lynwood 2
- Manhattan Beach 9
- Mar Vista 6
- Melrose 19
- Miracle Mile 5
- Monterey Park 3
- North Hollywood 9
- Northridge 1
- Pacific Palisades 8
- Palmdale 1
- Palms 2
- Paramount 2
- Park La Brea 6
- Playa Vista 3
- Rancho Palos Verdes 1
- Redondo Beach 5
- Reseda 3
- San Dimas 1
- San Fernando 1
- San Pedro 2
- Santa Clarita 7
- Santa Monica 12
- Santa Monica Mountains 2
- Sherman Oaks 8
- Silverlake 4
- South El Monte 1
- South Gate 1
- South Park 1
- South Pasadena 3
- South Whittier 2
- Stevenson Ranch 2
- Studio City 7
- Sun Valley 2
- Sunland 1
- Sylmar 1
- Tarzana 8
- Temple 1
- Torrance 4
- Tujunga 1
- University Park 1
- Valley Glen 7
- Van Nuys 4
- Venice 7
- Vermont Knolls 1
- Vermont Vista 1
- Vernon Central 1
- Walnut 1
- West Adams 1
- West Covina 1
- West Hills 4
- West Hollywood 23
- West Los Angeles 4
- West Vernon 2
- Westchester 3
- Westlake 1
- Westwood 6
- Whittier 2
- Wilmington 3
- Wilshire Center 1
- Winnetka 1
- Woodland Hills 7
- – Under Investigation 61