Tuesday September 15, The County of Los Angeles has updated the community with critical news surrounding COVID-19. The County remains cautious as numbers reflect that the curve is flattening, and positive cases continue to decline. The Los Angeles Public Health department disclosed data reflecting stabilization in multiple state ordered benchmarks, which will result in the County having more opportunity to reopen. Public officials continue to stress the importance of a communal effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.
There has been a significant increase in selfless acts among the community. With the pandemic creating extreme hardship in certain areas, Los Angeles has seen over 1,000 volunteers offer their time and a variety of businesses go “above and beyond” to answer their call to civic responsibility. Chairwoman Kathryn Barger stated, “All of this is a testament, that the community is working together to weather this storm.”
Los Angeles is also experiencing turbulence amid residents and those sworn to protect them. Chairwoman Barger disclosed that two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were ambushed and shot over the weekend. Supervisor Mark-Ridley Thomas and Barger are offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to a capture of those who committed the violence.
Barger stated, “The events of this weekend has made it clear to me, that anti –law enforcement rhetoric expressed by many elected officials, community leaders, and others has created a toxic environment amid the time of civil unrest. “
COVID-19 has casted a different light on the community, it has shown how extremely generous and mindful Los Angeles can be, but it also revealed an ugly truth of hate and treacherous acts are still lurking within the shadows in the County. Barger closed with instructions to be there for each other, and she urged residents to continue to strive to be a shoulder to lean on.
Recent statistics were disclosed by Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles Public Health Director. The reports shown on Monday reflect 24 additional deaths, nine of these individuals were over the age of 80, six of them had underlining health conditions. Five people who died were between the ages of 65-79, four victims had preexisting health concerns. Ten individuals were between the ages of 50-64, and eight of them had underlining health problems. Two people who passed were between the ages of 30-49, all of them had previous medical issues. This brings the total COVID-19 related deaths in L.A. County to 6,231.
There were 733 new COVID-19 reports. In summary, there is a total amount of 254,656 coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles region. 11,170 incidents were reported in the city of Long Beach and 2,476 cases in the city of Pasadena.
The relationship between COVID-19 infection and ethnicity were provided. The racial background collected from 5,859 fatal cases showed 10% were African American, 15% were Asian, slightly less than 1% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 51% were LatinX, 23% were White, and 1% identified as a different race or ethnicity. 92% of those who died due to COVID-19 had preexisting health concerns.
Through these numbers, Ferrer confirmed the placement of Los Angeles reopening schools, grades k-12. There have been cohorts’ prototypes recently; opening campuses for in-person learning for selected groups of schools. These trial pods of students and faculty looks to find the safest social distancing procedures, while they are in-person school environment. Ferrer shared that they are still collecting information and will determine if these school cohorts will be the example of the future in-person educational experience.
