Due to this spike in COVID-19 cases, Los Angeles officials are saying that a strict stay-at-home order could go into effect as soon as Sunday, November 22, ABC7 reports.
The virus has devastated the county, with a reported 5,031 new cases on November 19, “the highest number of daily new cases L.A. County has experienced throughout the pandemic,” and 29 new deaths, according to Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
There have been a total of over 353,000 COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County to date, including 7,363 deaths.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a limited stay-at-home order on Thursday, implementing a curfew that prohibits unnecessary activity between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. PST. It will be effective until December 21 at the earliest. Of the 58 counties in the state, 41 will have to adhere to the curfew.
Although the new number of cases excludes retroactive reporting from testing labs, Dr. Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County Health Officer, says the county is seeing numbers that surpass the surge reported this past summer.
“At this point, no one should be still underestimating the spread of this virus, nor should anyone be questioning the actions we still need to slow the spread and lessen its impact on our collective health and our local economy,” Davis told ABC7.
The number of positive cases reported has exceeded 4,500 new cases per day for two consecutive days. According to LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, a Safer-at-Home order, which would only allow essential workers, as well as people who need to access essential services, to leave their homes, may be implemented if the five-day average of new COVID exceeds 4,500 cases—or if hospitalizations exceed 2,000 per day.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, of those who have died from COVID-19 in LA County to date, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,947 people—99% of the cases reported by Public Health. Ninety-three percent of the people who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions; 52% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 14% among Asian residents, 9% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.
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