Public Health Urges Vaccinations and Boosters as Positive Cases Increase at Schools and in the Community - 2,997 New Positive Cases and 7 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

With continued high transmission of the more infectious COVID-19 subvariants, the number of students and staff testing positive at K-12 schools in LA County increased for the fifth consecutive week with 3,151 students and 737 staff testing positive for the week ending May 1; this is a 322% increase from just one month ago. Test positivity, at 0.5%, has also increased by 163% this past month.

School-associated outbreaks remain elevated for the week ending May 7, with 16 outbreaks (seven in elementary schools, two in middle schools, and seven in high schools). One month ago, for the week ending April 9, there were 11 outbreaks (seven in elementary schools, one in a middle school, and three in high schools).

And while most children infected with COVID-19 experience relatively mild illness, there continues to be dozens of children experiencing long COVID and dozens hospitalized with more severe illness. During the 90-day period ending April 30, the youngest pediatric patients, ages 0-4-years-old, not yet eligible to receive the vaccines, had the highest hospitalization rate with 33 hospitalizations per 100,000 children. Children ages 12 to 17 had the second highest hospitalization rate with 14 hospitalizations per 100,000, and children ages 5 to 11 had the lowest hospitalization rate with 10 children hospitalized per 100,000.

Unvaccinated children continue to be more at risk for severe illness and hospitalization. During the 90-day period ending April 21, the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated children ages 5-11 was three times higher than the hospitalization rate among fully vaccinated children in the same age group. For unvaccinated children ages 12-17, during this same time period, the hospitalization rate was two times higher than the hospitalization rate among fully vaccinated children in the same age group.

Vaccines are approved for children ages five and older and are widely available. There are 218 school-based vaccine clinics this week. These school vaccine sites offer pediatric doses for ages 5-11, as well as vaccines and boosters for eligible individuals 12 years of age and older. As a reminder, vaccines continue to prevent severe illness and hospitalizations, and are the safest way to keep children in school and participating in other activities.

With high levels of community transmission, Public Health continues to strongly recommend that all students and staff wear well-fitting, high filtration masks, preferably respirators, when indoors. Masking is required indoors for asymptomatic staff and students who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 for 10 days from their last exposure. Wearing a well-fitting, high filtration mask or respirator provides a strong layer of protection that can lower the risk of spreading the virus at schools and school-related activities.

“As always, we extend our deepest sympathies and prayers for healing to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one from COVID,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “With the school year almost over, we all look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of students and staff. When gathering with others, staff, students, and their families should consider all sensible safety measures to layer in as many protections as feasible. Masking indoors at large events is particularly important to avoid the future disruptions that occur when the virus spreads to event attendees. Fortunately, with easy access to vaccines, boosters, testing, therapeutics, and high-quality masks, having a good time with others is easily possible to do without creating unnecessary risk for ourselves and those around us.”

Today, Public Health reported seven additional deaths and 2,997 new positive cases due to COVID. Of the seven new deaths reported today, two people were between the ages of 65-79 and five people were aged 80 years or older. Of the seven newly reported deaths, all had underlying health conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 32,007.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,900,449 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 2.5%.

There are 249 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,906,697 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

COVID-19 Daily Data (cases, deaths, testing, testing positivity rate, mortality rate, and hospitalizations)
Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity and City/Community Cases and Deaths
Recovery Metrics
Contact Tracing Metrics
Skilled Nursing Facility Metrics
Citations due to Health Officer Order Noncompliance
Outbreaks:

Residential Congregate Settings
Non-Residential Settings
Homeless Service Settings

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health:
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/
California Department of Public Health:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Spanish https://espanol.cdc.gov/enes/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
World Health Organization https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
LA County residents can also call 2-1-1

Please see additional information below:

	Total Cases
Laboratory Confirmed Cases	2,900,449
-- Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)	2,744,412
-- Long Beach	126,946
-- Pasadena	29,091
Deaths	32,007
-- Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)	30,328
-- Long Beach	1,265
-- Pasadena	414
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- 0 to 4	84313
- 5 to 11	243804
- 12 to 17	238151
- 18 to 29	611901
- 30 to 49	876015
- 50 to 64	453850
- 65 to 79	176916
- over 80	57426
- Under Investigation	2036
Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- Female	1397001
- Male	1270501
- Other	1203
- Under Investigation	75707
Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- American Indian/Alaska Native	5044
- Asian	172819
- Black	137884
- Hispanic/Latino	1242503
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	13879
- White	358980
- Other	304216
- Under Investigation	509087
Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- Hospitalized (Ever)***	137,880
Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
- American Indian/Alaska Native	73
- Asian	3786
- Black	2811
- Hispanic/Latino	15589
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	112
- White	7559
- Other	308
- Under Investigation	90
CITY / COMMUNITY**	Cases	Case Rate
City of Agoura Hills	4351	20835
City of Alhambra	17466	20140
City of Arcadia	8417	14574
City of Artesia	4251	25311
City of Avalon	64	1654
City of Azusa	13869	27716
City of Baldwin Park	23105	30097
City of Bell	13976	38467
City of Bell Gardens	14234	33048
City of Bellflower	23568	30318
City of Beverly Hills	8695	25188
City of Bradbury	67	6268
City of Burbank	23108	21560
City of Calabasas	4150	17062
City of Carson	26012	27718
City of Cerritos	8713	17403
City of Claremont	7290	19981
City of Commerce*	4551	34823
City of Compton	33302	33334
City of Covina	14868	30323
City of Cudahy	10090	41442
City of Culver City	7784	19526
City of Diamond Bar	9407	16356
City of Downey	36366	31827
City of Duarte	5258	23883
City of El Monte	33352	28441
City of El Segundo	2929	17449
City of Gardena	16537	26973
City of Glendale	45393	21983
City of Glendora	12002	22747
City of Hawaiian Gardens	4207	28666
City of Hawthorne	22909	25802
City of Hermosa Beach	3450	17539
City of Hidden Hills	277	14656
City of Huntington Park	22215	37346
City of Industry	407	93135
City of Inglewood	29777	26216
City of Irwindale	539	36943
City of La Canada Flintridge	3044	14710
City of La Habra Heights	162	2970
City of La Mirada	10661	21494
City of La Puente	12814	31486
City of La Verne	7171	21546
City of Lakewood	19368	24101
City of Lancaster*	51347	31780
City of Lawndale	8243	24523
City of Lomita	4402	21236
City of Lynwood*	24946	34625
City of Malibu	2216	17097
City of Manhattan Beach	5279	14664
City of Maywood	10640	37934
City of Monrovia	8452	21784
City of Montebello	19435	30190
City of Monterey Park	11877	19076
City of Norwalk	33517	31143
City of Palmdale	53428	33609
City of Palos Verdes Estates	1589	11751
City of Paramount	19059	34020
City of Pico Rivera	21175	32940
City of Pomona	52462	33644
City of Rancho Palos Verdes	5113	11961
City of Redondo Beach	10554	15363
City of Rolling Hills	197	10155
City of Rolling Hills Estates	1033	12733
City of Rosemead	11021	19911
City of San Dimas*	8222	23821
City of San Fernando	10549	42861
City of San Gabriel	7785	19009
City of San Marino	1517	11426
City of Santa Clarita	55179	25033
City of Santa Fe Springs	6424	34981
City of Santa Monica	18202	19689
City of Sierra Madre	1593	14496
City of Signal Hill	2908	24650
City of South El Monte	6619	31693
City of South Gate	38674	39401
City of South Pasadena	4261	16355
City of Temple City	6431	17641
City of Torrance	23627	15829
City of Vernon	311	148804
City of Walnut	5020	16442
City of West Covina	29759	27495
City of West Hollywood	8378	22673
City of Westlake Village	291	3481
City of Whittier	24035	27490
Los Angeles	1198277	29627
Los Angeles - Adams-Normandie	2639	32175
Los Angeles - Alsace	3596	28895
Los Angeles - Angeles National Forest	6	15000
Los Angeles - Angelino Heights	647	25859
Los Angeles - Arleta	13762	40041
Los Angeles - Atwater Village	3658	24942
Los Angeles - Baldwin Hills	7667	24633
Los Angeles - Bel Air	1579	18733
Los Angeles - Beverly Crest	2489	19872
Los Angeles - Beverlywood	3175	24102
Los Angeles - Boyle Heights*	33521	38581
Los Angeles - Brentwood	5930	19157
Los Angeles - Brookside	100	17212
Los Angeles - Cadillac-Corning	1870	26260
Los Angeles - Canoga Park	20423	31281
Los Angeles - Carthay	3069	21367
Los Angeles - Central	14951	38344
Los Angeles - Century City	2509	19614
Los Angeles - Century Palms/Cove	13565	40174
Los Angeles - Chatsworth	9562	25801
Los Angeles - Cheviot Hills	1768	19278
Los Angeles - Chinatown	2034	25358
Los Angeles - Cloverdale/Cochran	4125	28345
Los Angeles - Country Club Park	3715	24517
Los Angeles - Crenshaw District	4064	29388
Los Angeles - Crestview	2956	26003
Los Angeles - Del Rey	6204	20724
Los Angeles - Downtown*	12264	44585
Los Angeles - Eagle Rock	9604	24259
Los Angeles - East Hollywood	7486	25561
Los Angeles - Echo Park	3458	24256
Los Angeles - El Sereno	13457	32188
Los Angeles - Elysian Park	1409	24667
Los Angeles - Elysian Valley	2779	27323
Los Angeles - Encino	10778	23860
Los Angeles - Exposition	984	29585
Los Angeles - Exposition Park	14710	32749
Los Angeles - Faircrest Heights	924	25667
Los Angeles - Figueroa Park Square	3060	35088
Los Angeles - Florence-Firestone	19614	41340
Los Angeles - Glassell Park	8228	26035
Los Angeles - Gramercy Place	3224	29952
Los Angeles - Granada Hills	16400	28183
Los Angeles - Green Meadows	8584	39916
Los Angeles - Hancock Park	3517	20641
Los Angeles - Harbor City	7159	24627
Los Angeles - Harbor Gateway	12331	28282
Los Angeles - Harbor Pines	462	19178
Los Angeles - Harvard Heights	5208	28877
Los Angeles - Harvard Park	15096	39794
Los Angeles - Highland Park	13266	27414
Los Angeles - Historic Filipinotown	4325	31182
Los Angeles - Hollywood	16550	24248
Los Angeles - Hollywood Hills	5554	18869
Los Angeles - Hyde Park	9334	32704
Los Angeles - Jefferson Park	2538	31438
Los Angeles - Koreatown	13167	25472
Los Angeles - Lafayette Square	1262	27682
Los Angeles - Lake Balboa	12487	29586
Los Angeles - Lakeview Terrace	4653	35430
Los Angeles - Leimert Park	4359	28612
Los Angeles - Lincoln Heights	10232	31389
Los Angeles - Little Armenia	2464	30704
Los Angeles - Little Bangladesh	6964	24570
Los Angeles - Little Tokyo	1115	35589
Los Angeles - Longwood	1361	31622
Los Angeles - Los Feliz	4055	18766
Los Angeles - Manchester Square	2432	28491
Los Angeles - Mandeville Canyon	551	17638
Los Angeles - Mar Vista	7642	17993
Los Angeles - Marina Peninsula	706	16193
Los Angeles - Melrose	20615	26533
Los Angeles - Mid-city	3542	23566
Los Angeles - Miracle Mile	3606	20050
Los Angeles - Mission Hills	9533	39517
Los Angeles - Mt. Washington	6499	26917
Los Angeles - North Hills	20278	32932
Los Angeles - North Hollywood	47023	31054
Los Angeles - Northridge	19547	28006
Los Angeles - Pacific Palisades	3574	16786
Los Angeles - Pacoima	32330	41998
Los Angeles - Palisades Highlands	666	17317
Los Angeles - Palms	8374	19085
Los Angeles - Panorama City	27375	36379
Los Angeles - Park La Brea	2342	17246
Los Angeles - Pico-Union	13988	33431
Los Angeles - Playa Del Rey	427	13360
Los Angeles - Playa Vista	2398	21906
Los Angeles - Porter Ranch	7506	21091
Los Angeles - Rancho Park	1527	23277
Los Angeles - Regent Square	662	23813
Los Angeles - Reseda	25014	32648
Los Angeles - Reseda Ranch	1433	30910
Los Angeles - Reynier Village	892	21097
Los Angeles - San Pedro*	19974	25595
Los Angeles - Shadow Hills	1000	22512
Los Angeles - Sherman Oaks	19613	22478
Los Angeles - Silverlake	10009	22705
Los Angeles - South Carthay	2381	22473
Los Angeles - South Park	14951	39385
Los Angeles - St Elmo Village	1549	33791
Los Angeles - Studio City	4879	21742
Los Angeles - Sun Valley	18980	36164
Los Angeles - Sunland	5190	< #####