Coronavirus cases in LA County surpass 25,000 mark

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County officials are confirming 21 more deaths from coronavirus and 781 additional cases, bringing the county's totals to 25,662 cases and 1,229 deaths.

The public health department says 15 people who died were over the age of 65 and three people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65. Eleven people had underlying health conditions including 10 people over the age of 65 years old and one person between the ages of 41 to 65 years old.

The confirmed cases include 745 in Long Beach and 417 in Pasadena, which have their own health departments.

Los Angeles County continues to represent about half of the cases and deaths across the state. Officials in Sacramento reported Saturday that the state had 53,616 cases and 2,215 deaths.

Citing new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ferrer said earlier that people who test positive for the virus or are believed to be positive must now isolate themselves for 10 days, plus an additional 72 hours after symptoms dissipate. The previous guidance called for seven days of isolation, plus 72 symptom-free hours.

"There's new evidence that suggests that the virus may shed for a longer period of time, which means that a person may be able to infect other people for a longer period of time than was initially thought,'' said Barbara Ferrer the county's public health director.

"If you now test positive for COVID-19 or you've been told by your rovider that you're likely to be positive for the virus, you need to immediately self-isolate,'' Ferrer said. "And this means staying home and staying away from all other people and pets as much as possible all of the time. Please do not prepare or serve meals for your family, and please don't share utensils, cups or food with others. If you're a caregiver it would be important for you to find someone else in your family to perform daily
activities that have you in close contact with others.''

Ferrer said there have now been 182 confirmed coronavirus cases among the county's homeless population, the majority of them occurring among people who were housed at the Union Rescue Mission on downtown L.A.'s Skid Row, where an outbreak was confirmed in mid-April.

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