As of May 20 the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health has confirmed 57 new deaths due to COVID-19; of that number 30 people who died were over the age of 65, 12 who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40. Thirty-two people had underlying health conditions. This brings the total number of deaths in LA County to 1,970.

As of May 18, the City of Glendale reported 69 deaths, La Cañada Flintridge reported five deaths, Eagle Rock reported nine deaths, Shadow Hills reported zero deaths, Sunland reported 14 and Tujunga reported eight. In the unincorporated areas of LA County, Altadena reported five deaths and La Crescenta/Montrose reported one death.

As of May 20, there were 1,324 new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in LA County to 40,857. This number includes 869 cases in Glendale, 48 in La Cañada Flintridge, 146 in Eagle Rock, 10 in Shadow Hills, 123 in Sunland and 104 in Tujunga. In the unincorporated areas of LA County, Altadena reported 129 cases and La Crescenta /Montrose reported 26 cases.

USC Verdugo Hills Hospital reported that, as of May 20, there were six patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 that were currently in the hospital, 92 patients confirmed with COVID-19 had been sent home and 35 patients were transferred. Of those patients with negative COVID-19 tests, 63 are currently hospitalized, 839 have been sent home and nine patients were transferred. Of those patients with pending COVID-19 tests, 11 are currently hospitalized and three were sent home.

Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for nearly 380,000 individuals and 9% of people tested positive.

“Many people across the county have lost loved ones to COVID-19. To those who are experiencing devastating loss, we share in your sorrow and you are in our thoughts and prayers,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, director of Public Health. “We are continuing to do serology testing with samples of LA County residents. This testing allows us to better understand how many people have been exposed to COVID-19 and how the virus is showing up in our communities.”

Preliminary findings from the second community prevalence study done in partnership with the University of Southern California and the LRW Group suggests there was not much spread of the virus in the general community population during the time between this study and the study conducted in April. One thousand and fourteen LA County adults were tested between May 8 and May 12 using serology testing. Based on results of the second round of testing, the research team estimates that approximately 2.1% of the County’s adult population has antibodies to the virus. This compares to 4.1% among the 863 adults tested in the April study.

The difference between the two results was not statistically significant and could be due to random variation. However, other factors could have contributed to the lower prevalence including different test site locations and recruitment efforts for a higher number of Latinos, Asians, and African Americans.

Similar to the previous study, men were more likely than women to have been infected: 2.8% among men and 1.4% among women. There were only slight differences in positivity rates by race and ethnicity. However, there were differences in positivity rates by income levels: 2.8% of people with a lower income level had positive results and 1% of people with a higher income level who were tested were positive. Although this round of testing did not include the highest risk groups, Public Health is planning on surveying those living in congregate settings (e.g., skilled nursing facilities, homeless shelters, jails) or persons experiencing homelessness and living on the streets and is also planning a subsequent survey that will include children.