The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) has confirmed 49 new deaths and 2,014 new cases of COVID-19 as of July 23. To date, the agency has identified 166,848 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 4,262 deaths.
The number of cases in the City of Beverly Hills stands at 523.
County-wide, there are 2,210 confirmed cases currently hospitalized, 28 percent of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU and 19 percent are confirmed cases on ventilators. The number of hospitalizations has remained over 2,200 for five consecutive days.
Earlier this week, LACDPH announced that the COVID-19 was on pace to become the second leading cause of death in the county, just behind coronary heart disease. More than 3,400 people died from the infection in the first six months of the year, killing more people than Alzheimer’s Disease, other kinds of heart disease, stroke and COPD. By comparison, influenza killed 1,521 people during the 2019 flu season from October to May.
According to officials, new cases of the virus continue to be driven by people under the age of 41 years old. On June 22, the seven-day average of new cases was 1,763, now the county is averaging 2,952 new cases a day – almost twice as many cases reported just a month ago. This is higher than at any point this entire pandemic.
In another grim milestone, California surpassed New York this week as the state with the highest number of confirmed infections.
Health officials stress that it is important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results, to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 24 hours after symptoms and fever subside. If a person has a positive lab result for COVID-19, expect a public health specialist from L.A. County Public Health to contact them by phone to interview about possible exposures and to identify others who may have also been exposed to the infection. The information is protected and cannot be shared with others except in emergency situations. A public health specialist will never ask for a social security number, payment or documented status.
Public Health has a dedicated call line for confirmed cases of COVID-19. If someone is positive for COVID-19 and has not yet connected with a public health specialist or needs more information on services, call toll-free at 1-833-540-0473. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue to call 211 for resources or more information.
