In a tragic milestone, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed more than 16,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. To date, Public Health identified 1,097,941 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 16,107 deaths. On Saturday, less than a week earlier, L.A. County surpassed more than 15,000 COVID-19 deaths. As of Jan. 28, the agency confirmed 213 new deaths and 6,592 new cases of COVID-19. In Beverly Hills, there have been 2200 cases of COVID-19 and 21 deaths.
Supply of the COVID-19 vaccine remains very limited, officials said. Currently, only Los Angeles County healthcare workers in Phase 1A and residents age 65 and older are eligible to get their vaccination. Residents are urged to visit VaccinateLACounty.com to sign up when appointments become available. For those without access to a computer or the internet, a call center is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. to help schedule appointments at 833-540-0473.
“To continue to drive down transmission, we all must commit to taking the actions that work to slow COVID-19 spread. When more sectors re-open the risk of COVID-19 transmission increases, because people are interacting more with non-household members. In order to avoid re-openings resulting in increases in cases, businesses and individuals need to be more diligent, not less, in following public health measures. We have a way to go before our hospitals are not stressed and fewer people die each day. Staying on a recovery journey is only possible if we all play by the rules,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health.
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.
Additional information is available by calling toll-free at 1-833-540-0473. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue to call 211 for resources or more information.
