LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County health officials Tuesday confirmed 27 more deaths and 1,843 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total of new COVID-19 cases, although officials said a backlog in test results contributed to the large jump.
To date (May 26), Public Health has confirmed 2,143 total deaths and identified 47,822 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, including 668 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths in Palmdale; 546 cases and 10 deaths in Lancaster; 41 cases and seven deaths in Quartz Hill; 28 cases and two deaths in Lake Los Angeles; 37 cases and no deaths in the Littlerock/Pearblossom, Juniper Hills areas; and 15 cases and no deaths in Sun Village. View the latest detailed report here.
Of the county’s deaths, 47% occurred at skilled nursing facilities, which have been a focal point of the pandemic in the county. A total of 93% of the people who have died in the county from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions.
For the 1,974 deaths for which ethnic data was available, 39% were Latinx, 29% were white, 17% were Asian, 12% were black and 1% were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
The numbers were announced following a holiday weekend that saw thousands of people flocking to beaches, hiking trails and other recreation facilities, sparking concerns about residents’ willingness to continue adhering to restrictions such as social distancing and wearing face coverings.
County officials warned anyone heading to the beach that face coverings are mandatory when not in the water. The active-use restriction also forbids sunbathing on the sand, meaning chairs, umbrellas, canopies and coolers are still barred — although such items were easy to spot at some beach areas.
Such images caught the attention of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who again warned residents that the virus has not gone away.
He warned there is a danger “that we go back to some sense of normalcy with amnesia, that we forget the past, we forget the fact that we’re meeting a mark of shame in this country, that 100,000 souls have lost their lives, that this pandemic continues, that we’re seeing positive numbers of cases increase, not decrease.
“Even though we’re seeing stability here in the state of California and positivity rates holding strong, that doesn’t mean this thing’s behind us and we’re out of the woods yet. Quite the contrary,” Newsom said.
Despite the concerns, Newsom on Tuesday cleared the way for many counties in the state to open barbershops and hair salons, with safety protocols. Los Angeles County, however, has not yet been granted a variance from the state that would allow it to open businesses such as dine-in restaurants. Newsom said he is working with the county on a proposal to allow some individual cities to open more businesses.
Los Angeles County is still home to about half of the state’s coronavirus cases and deaths.
An interactive dashboard is available that provides comprehensive information on COVID-19 cases, along with maps and graphs showing data by city and community. To view Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, visit: http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/
Editor’s note: Many readers have inquired about the COVID-19 recovery rate for the Antelope Valley, however, the county has not shared that information. In order to be considered recovered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person must be free of a fever without the help of medication, show improvement in respiratory conditions, and receive negative results from two separate COVID-19 tests performed at least 24 hours apart. The priority for testing right now may be diagnoses, not recovery.
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