15,427 New Positive Cases and 85 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb 4 – Today, Public Health confirmed 85 additional deaths and 15,427 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases reflects almost 6,800 additional cases due to reporting delays from a single lab. Of the 85 new deaths reported today, one person was between the ages of 18-29, two people were between the ages of 30-49, 17 were between the ages of 50-64, 27 were between the ages of 65-79, and 31 were age 80 years or older. Of the 85 newly reported deaths, 67 had underlying health conditions. Information on the six deaths reported by the City of Long Beach is available at www.LongBeach.gov. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 29,280.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,710,362 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 6.9%.

There are 3,233 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,148,900 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.

With high COVID-19 vaccination and booster rates, skilled nursing facility residents experienced a peak death rate that was more than five times lower this surge as compared to the previous winter’s surge.

The latest Public Health data shows that the seven-day average death rate of skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents dramatically declined from 106 residents per 100,000 during the peak of the 2020-21 winter surge to 21 residents per 100,000 during the more recent Omicron peak. The 80% reduction in the peak death rate among SNF residents is even more striking when considering that the peak seven-day average of new infections caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant this surge was 15% higher than the peak infection rate during the previous winter surge.

High levels of vaccination and booster coverage within skilled nursing facilities helped provide life-saving protection. For the week ending January 23, 91% of residents and 97% of staff were reported as fully vaccinated, and 85% of residents and 75% of staff were reported as both fully vaccinated and boosted among those eligible. Since the announcement of the healthcare worker booster requirement in late December, the number of SNF staff boosted has increased by almost 50%. This essential layer of better coverage and protection with a booster dose has resulted in far better outcomes this surge as compared to the previous winter.

Moreover, newly released CDC data yesterday showed that individuals who were both fully vaccinated and boosted had a 97 times lower death rate (0.1 individuals per 100,000) compared to individuals who were unvaccinated (9.7 individuals per 100,000).

“I send my deepest sympathies and wishes for peace and comfort to the many families who have lost a loved one due to COVID-19,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We remain hopeful that we will continue to see fewer people at skilled nursing facilities dying from COVID-19 in the upcoming weeks.

“However, if we want to continue to bring our cases, hospitalizations, and deaths closer to pre-surge levels, we’ll need to continue the common-sense protective measures that we know can slow COVID-19 transmission,” Ferrer continued. “These include wearing a mask when around others until transmission is lower; testing, if possible, before gathering with others, especially if you’re gathering with people at high risk (including unvaccinated) or indoors or in a crowded outdoor place where masks are not always worn, and after being exposed to a positive case; staying home and away from others if you are sick or test positive; and getting vaccinated and boosted if you’re not already up to date.”