Seven new cases of coronavirus were reported in Santa Monica Friday, bringing the city’s total number of confirmed cases to 28, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said at a press conference Friday 257 new cases of coronavirus were reported and Los Angeles County’s total number of confirmed cases stands at 1,465 as of noon Friday.
“In less than a week, and really I think only six days, we have gone from 409 cases to 1,465 cases,” Ferrer said. “This increase in part reflects a lot of improved access to testing … but we also have to assume that these numbers represent the very real fact that we have a lot more people infected in the county who are capable of infecting others.”
Ferrer said the majority of the people who are infected and tested positive are between the ages of 18 and 65, but that does not mean other age groups aren’t at risk.
“All of the people who I'm reporting about today who've passed were over the age of 60. Yesterday I reported on an additional nine deaths — and of those — eight of those people also were over the age of 60,” Ferrer said. “There was one person, unfortunately, who passed and was ... in their 40s. They did have underlying health conditions.”
Three hundred and seventeen people with the virus have at some point been hospitalized, representing about 22% of all positive cases, Ferrer said. 1.8% of people who have tested positive have died, a mortality rate higher than the national average and in New York City.
“I know that there's more and more demand from the general public to get tested,” Ferrer said. “We ask for your patience, because there is still a very long turnaround time on getting results because there's a backlog at the labs and there still is limited capacity.”
As of Thursday, the county had 208 available ICU beds and about 830 ventilators, said Christina Ghaly, director of the L.A. County Department of Health Services. She said hospitals can increase their bed capacity to accommodate a surge in patients but did not specify how many ICU beds could be added.
About 4,600 cases and more than 90 deaths were reported in California Friday as Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide moratorium on evictions for renters affected by coronavirus and the economic devastation it has caused. The temporary evictions ban will last through the end of May and renters will have to make up any unpaid rent.
Santa Monica and about 50 other cities had already halted evictions for tenants impacted by coronavirus. Santa Monica also put a moratorium on commercial evictions as nonessential businesses were ordered to close to slow the spread of the virus.
brennon@smdp.com
