By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Los Angeles County health officials reported 3266 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total cases to 164,870.

Image/CDC

In addition, 64 deaths were reported yesterday bringing LA County’s death toll to 4213.

LA County Director of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer, PhD said, “The tragedy of what we are witnessing is that many of our younger residents are interacting with each other and not adhering to the recommended prevention measures, while our older residents continue to experience the results of this increased spread with the worst health outcomes, including death. People over the age of 65 years old account for 11% of all cases but account for nearly 75% of all deaths. Our behaviors, including the wearing of face coverings and the adherence of physical distancing —simple actions of kindness and caring — can protect those we love.”

Outbreak News Merchandise

In related news, health officials released an alert recently concerning multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) cases in the county.

Since March 1, 2020 the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) has identified 15 cases meeting CDC criteria.

The 15 LAC case-patients have a median age of 8 years, 7 months; 40% were 0-5 years of age, 40% were 6-12 years of age, and 20% were 13-20 years of age. The majority of cases (73%) were of Hispanic ethnicity. Zero case-patients have died.

Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome different from Kawasaki disease: Study

Nationally, the CDC has identified 342 case-patients with MIS-C as of July 15, 2020, with a median age
of 8.0 years (range 0-20). 81% of cases were 1-14 years of age.

The State of California has recorded more than 421,000 COVID-19 cases to date, leapfrogging New York as the state with the most cases. More than 8,000 deaths have been reported.