On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 14 new deaths resulting from Covid-19, and 265 new positive cases.
While the number of hospitalizations continues to decrease across the County as vaccines are doled out, the number of deaths and confirmed cases reported may reflect delays in weekend reporting.
The numbers reported today by Public Health bring the County to a total of 24,166 deaths and 1,238,607 confirmed cases.
COVID-19 Daily Update:
May 22, 2021
New Cases: 265 (1,238,607 to date)
New Deaths: 14 (24,166 to date)
Current Hospitalizations: 330 pic.twitter.com/tt0cCFu0ww— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) May 22, 2021
330 County residents are currently hospitalized with Covid-19, 24% of whom are in the ICU. Test results have been made available to more than 6,691,000 people, with 17% testing positive.
Four of today’s new deaths were of people over the age of 80, with two people between the ages of 65 and 79 lost to the virus. Seven who died were between 50 and 64 years of age, while one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29.
On Saturday, Public Health noted that Covid-19 variants are still cropping up within the County. At the moment, the most common variant found circulating within the greater Los Angeles area is UK variant B.1.1.7, though Brazil (P.1) and South African (B.1.351) variants have also been detected. Fortunately, research suggests that Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective in combatting all variants of concern.
Additional Variants Identified in L.A. County; Vaccines Show to Be Highly Effective in Reducing Infection By COVID-19 Variants. Click https://t.co/9Q2M3etnyJ for More Information. pic.twitter.com/TGVgOCwoN1
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) May 22, 2021
“We have so much proof that these vaccines are safe and very effective at preventing infection, serious illness and death from COVID-19,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “If you haven’t yet been vaccinated, this is a good weekend to do so.” Ferrer noted that this weekend, at select County-run and L.A. City vaccination sites, residents 18 years and older getting their first Covid-19 vaccine will have a chance to enter a sweepstakes to win LA Lakers season tickets.
Vaccines are currently available at many County-run and community sites without an appointment, to anyone 12 and older that is living or working in L.A. On June 15, the County will undergo a full opening, in alignment with that undertaken by the state of California.