LA County Reports Highest Number of Daily New Deaths Since April 2021

LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan 15 – With the reporting of 66 additional deaths today, LA County is marking the grim milestone of losing more than 28,000 residents to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Today’s death count is the highest number of deaths reported in a single day since April 2nd, 2021, with daily deaths increasing fourfold in just one week. The majority of deaths reported this week are associated with individuals who became infected after December 20 when Omicron was circulating widely. Daily hospitalizations also increased to 4,386, and the extraordinarily high number of new cases reflects worrisome rates of community transmission.

Public Health urges residents to take steps to stay safe during the surge. Residents should get vaccinated and boosted if they have not done so yet, as unvaccinated people are between 2 and 4 times more likely to get infected than those fully vaccinated. Residents should also upgrade their masks to an N95, KN95, KF94, or a surgical mask, all of which do a better job at blocking virus particles than cloth masks. Everyone should also limit non-essential activities where people are unmasked and crowded together, especially if indoors, until transmission is lower. Residents can visit covid19.lacounty.gov to find a testing site.

“Our hearts remain with those families experiencing the sorrow of losing those they love to COVID,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As deaths often lag behind surges in cases and hospitalizations, sadly, the increase in deaths does not come as a surprise and tragically, we are prepared for even higher number of deaths in the coming weeks. With unvaccinated individuals 22 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those fully vaccinated, residents should not delay getting vaccinated and boosted as these measures are saving lives.”

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today released the latest data on COVID-19.

41,765 new COVID-19 cases (2,213,664 cases to date)
66 new deaths due to COVID-19 (28,008 deaths to date)
4,386 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19
More than 10,580,000 individuals tested; 19% of people tested positive to date