Los Angeles County continues to see a decrease in hospitalizations and stabilization rates in COVID-19. Schools across the county continue to open to in-class learning as they observe the safety protocols from public health officials. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine continues to receive setbacks and maybe temporarily unavailable. Public Health notes that being vaccinated is going to be the best way to stop the pandemic.
As of Monday, April 19, the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health confirmed three deaths and 18 new cases of COVID-19. There were 470 people with COVID-19 hospitalized with 18% testing positive.
Public Health identified 1,229,311 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 23,641 deaths. Cases across the Southland: Los Angeles County shows 1,165,462 cases, Long Beach with 52,659 cases and Pasadena with 11,190.
According to race and ethnicity, COVID-19 statistics show: American Indian/Alaska Native with1,978; Asian with 54,899; Black with 44,414; Hispanic/Latino with 60,3119; Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander with 4,169; White with 125,563; those of other race and ethnicity with 103,125 and 228,195 under investigation.
In the past few weeks, school have reponed with 77% of public school districts open, 43% of private and charter schools open. There are a few public school districts and 113 private and charter schools that have plans to repoen. Public Health has found that half of all schools had perfect compliance with an additional 45% had higher than 80% compliance. From the beginning of the school year until April, there have been outbreaks during the surge. The five active outbreaks in L.A. County schools are currently under investigation are associated with participation in youth sports where masking and distancing can present a challenge.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses have been replaced with Pfizer and Moderna for now. The CDC and FDA have paused on Johnson & Johnson vaccine after complications ranging from blood clots to manufacturing issues. It’s been stated an announcement may come at the end of the week about the vaccine’s safety from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. L.A. County will follow the CDC and FDA directives on when it is safe to resume administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The CDC announced a 5,800 breakthrough infections have been identified nationwide out of 77 million fully vaccinated people, which means that about 1 out of every 10,000 people vaccinated test positive for the virus.
“Among individuals fully vaccinated, less than 1 in a million have died. If we extrapolate these findings to L.A. County, and everyone in the county was fully vaccinated, the County would have only 753 breakthrough COVID-19 infections and 8 deaths,” according to publichealth.lacounty.gov. “This is why getting everyone vaccinated is so important. Of the 18 new deaths reported today, six people that passed away were over the age of 80, 10 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49.”
“We in Los Angeles are in a good place right now – and we have an opportunity to chart a different course from the one we’re seeing play out in other parts of the country,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “But we can only do it together. “
She continued, “We know how well a simple mask works to protect both children and adults, and how critically important it is for each of us to do our part to protect each other by getting vaccinated as soon as we are able to. There’s never been more proof of how important it is for us to take care of each other, especially now that so many of us are getting back to work and school.”
Kaiser Permanente is offering vaccine appointments at all of their facilities, whether you are a member or not. Call 1-833-KP4CARE or visit their website at KP.org/covidvaccine to make an appointment. County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.
Non-compliance and dangerous conditions at businesses and worksites can be reported to Public Health by phone at 888-700-9995 or online at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov. These tips can be submitted anonymously.
For more information and statistics on COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, please visit http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/
For more detailed information on COVID-19 vaccination plans in L.A. County and to sign up for a vaccination newsletter, visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com
