By Sam Catanzaro
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases reported in a single day as five Westwood residents have now died from the virus.
On Tuesday, Public Health confirmed 27 new deaths and 1,843 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Although this is the highest number of new cases reported in a day, some of these cases are from a backlog of test results.
According to Public Health, 20 people who died were over the age of 65 years old; six people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. 17 people had underlying health conditions including 11 people over the age of 65 years old and six people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old.
To date, Public Health has identified 47,822 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 2,143 deaths. 32 cases are in Century City and 66 in Westwood. Century City has seen zero COVID-19 deaths while Westwood has seen five.
93 percent of people who died had underlying health conditions, according to Public Health.
As of Tuesday, 6,195 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (13 percent of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,443 people who are currently hospitalized, 28% of these people are in the ICU and 19% are on ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for over 514,000 individuals and 8 percent of people testing positive.
“To all of you who have lost someone you love to COVID-19, you are in our thoughts and prayers. We wish you healing and peace during this very sad time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As improved infection control practices and testing have increased over the last month, deaths among residents in nursing homes have dropped from 174 deaths for the week ending May 2, to 60 deaths for the week ending May 23. We continue to work with our partners to ensure that all facilities protect employees and residents.”
