As State Looks To Reopen, LA Remains Epicenter Of Outbreak

LOS ANGELES, CA — On a day when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to begin reopening California this week, Los Angeles County officials reported 28 new coronavirus deaths. At the same time, county health officials declined to say whether Los Angeles is ready to reopen, leaving open the possibility that Los Angeles may remain shutdown longer than other parts of the state.

Los Angeles, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, has yet to see the decline in new cases that regions such as the Bay Area have had. In announcing plans to reopen some retail businesses, Newsom left broad discretion for county health departments to impose their own restrictions based upon local outbreaks. LA County’s “safer at home” orders are currently set to expire in Mid-May. Health officials have already begun reviewing plans for reopening beaches and parks in Los Angeles County, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health.

But Ferrer emphasized caution in the upcoming days.

"The virus has not changed. And it's still easily transmitted among people who are in close contact with each other," she said. "And the virus remains deadly. And we know that on average, more people die in L.A. County from COVID-19 than from any other disease. So please remember that physical distancing, wearing cloth face coverings, washing your hands, self- isolating and self-quarantining will continue to be important actions that we'll need to do throughout the foreseeable future."

Don't miss local and statewide news about coronavirus developments and precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

The new deaths brought the county's total number of fatalities to 1,256, said Ferrer. Roughly half of those deaths have occurred in institutional settings, primarily skilled nursing facilities. Almost two months into the pandemic, the stark toll on Los Angeles County health care workers is also becoming clear. A total of 2,978 health care workers and first responders in the county have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of about 1,000 from the previous week. Fifteen health care workers have died in the county, and Ferrer said 12 of those people worked at skilled nursing or assisted living facilities. The large spike in sicked health care workers is largely due to stepped-up testing that has been implemented at nursing facilities.

As of Monday, institutional settings -- including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, shelters, jails and prisons -- accounted for 616 deaths in the county, with Ferrer saying the vast majority were residents of skilled nursing facilities.

Health officials were investigating 328 institutional settings that have had at least one confirmed or suspected case.

For the 1,148 people who died from the virus and for whom racial data was available, 38% were Latinx, 29% white, 19% Asian, 13% black and 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Ferrer also reported 568 new cases of the coronavirus, noting that figures released on Mondays are generally lower due to more limited testing on weekends. The total number of cases in the county as of Monday afternoon was 26,217.

Despite the continued spread of the virus, Ferrer said county officials this week will discuss plans for reopening of businesses that have been shuttered for weeks under state and local stay-at-home orders. Newsom announced earlier Monday that the state will release guidelines on Thursday that will allow some low-risk retail businesses to reopen with curbside pickup only -- such as book stores, clothing stores, sporting-goods shops and florists.

Newsom said individual counties will retain the authority to keep stricter orders in place, possibly even delaying such businesses from reopening.

"I know we're all looking forward to more businesses reopening and more people being able to get back to work," she Ferrer. "I do want to emphasize that all of us share in the responsibility to reopen in a way that's safe and doesn't cause a spike in COVID-19 cases that can result in overwhelming our health care system and having more deaths than we would want to see."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.