County Announces 51 New COVID-19 Deaths

The LA County Department of Public Health confirmed 51 new deaths and 815 new cases of Coronavirus on Thursday.

Since the pandemic began, county health officials have identified 29,427 positive cases of the virus and a total of 1,418 deaths.

“These numbers represent people in our community who have passed away from COVID-19, and so many people are suffering as they mourn their loved ones. We are mourning with you, and we keep you in our thoughts and prayers,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health. “As we begin our journey of recovery, some of us will be going back to work and some of us will be out and about and around more people.

“But that does not mean that we are now living in a Post-COVID-19 world. The virus has not changed and it is still relatively easy to become infected, so we all share the responsibility to be diligent at all times in physical distancing, wearing cloth face coverings and frequent hand-washing. For our recovery to work, we all need to do our part to continue to slow the spread of the virus – this is the only thing that can prevent overwhelming our healthcare system and it will save lives.”

Yesterday, the county issued a five-stage roadmap to recovery that describes a phased approach to relaxing select directives of the Safer at Home Order and a reopening process for certain business sectors.

The county will begin Stage Two on Friday. In that stage florists and some retailers can offer curbside pickup. Car dealerships, golf courses and trails will also open with appropriate safeguards in place.

Physical distancing and infection control protocols must be adhered to and cloth facing coverings must be worn. Employers are required to provide a cloth face covering for all employees to wear while performing duties that involve contact with others and limit the number of people entering businesses so that a physical distance of at least six feet can be maintained at all times by employees and customers.

Employers must allow for frequent hand washing or have sanitizer available when hand washing isn’t possible and may also need to stagger employee shifts to ensure that they can work at a safe distance from one another while on site. The public will be required to follow the measures put in place by the businesses and wear a cloth face covering to enter the establishments or secure purchases curbside. Later next week additional restrictions may be lifted to include other retailers, manufacturers, and recreational facilities.