L.A. County Now Leads the Nation in COVID-19 Cases; Pasadena Reports Additional Six

County health officials reported 42 new deaths and 2,012 new cases of the Coronavirus on Thursday.

To date, Public Health has identified 91,467 positive cases of the virus and 3,246 deaths. The new numbers move L.A. County into top spot county officials never wanted.

As of Thursday, the county has more Coronavirus cases than any other county in the nation.

In Pasadena, six new cases were reported bringing the local case count to 1,213 and 89 deaths. Currently, there are 53 people hospitalized at Huntington Hospital battling the virus, up from 27 patients on May 28 when the number of Coronavirus patients at the hospital seemed to be declining.

“To the people across our communities who are mourning their loved one lost to COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health. “We are at an important moment in our COVID-19 recovery journey. For the last few weeks businesses and public spaces have reopened, and many more people have been out and around others.  As you may be aware, the data is now showing concerning trends. This week we have seen cases increase, hospitalizations increase, and the positivity rate for testing increase.  We also know that the average age of the people who are infected, including those who are newly infected, is trending younger than before.  We all need to do better because we can only be safer in the community if we follow the very specific guidelines Public Health has mandated.”

Public Health continues to assess key recovery indicators to understand how COVID-19 is affecting communities and capacity to treat people who may become seriously ill. And while Los Angeles County continues to see a decline in average daily deaths, the rate of death exposes significant disproportionality. Latinos/Latinx now have the highest mortality rate at 38 deaths per 100,000 people and African Americans/Blacks continue to have a high mortality rate at 37 deaths per 100,000 people. The mortality rate for Asians is 25 deaths per 100,000 people and for Whites is 19 per 100,000 people. People who live in communities with the highest rates of poverty have a mortality rate of 64 per 100,000 people, four times higher than people living in communities with the lowest rate of poverty (16%). Although, Public Health is seeing significant increases in hospitalizations, capacity in intensive care units and the supply of ventilators remain stable. The County also has retained the capacity to test more than 15,000 people each day.