LA County Public Health Dept. COVID-19 Armenian Update- 5/5/2020

LOS ANGELES – With 58 new deaths in the past 24 hours, and a total of 1,313 deaths and 27,815 positive COVID-19 (Coronavirus) cases in Los Angeles County, the LA County Department of Public Health – Environmental Health Specialist Nona Oganisyan, issued a message in Armenian today during the daily press briefing, urging the Armenian-American community to continue following safe practices to avoid getting infected along with updated statistical data.

The City of Los Angeles, is providing free COVID-19 testing to all Los Angeles City residents, whether or not you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Priority for the same or next day testing will still be given to people with symptoms, such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Testing is also prioritized for certain critical front-line workers who interact with the public while working. All Los Angeles County residents can find out if they are eligible for a test and schedule an appointment at a drive-up mobile testing site, by visiting https://covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/.

The latest figures, according to the LA County Public Health Department website, the city of Glendale continues as one of the highest affected with 651 positive COVID-19 cases, and 34 deaths to date. Other areas with high populations of Armenian-Americans, include Burbank (270 cases), East Hollywood (143 cases), Hollywood (201 cases), Little Armenia (128 cases), Montebello (164 cases), North Hollywood (431 cases), Northridge (192 cases), Pasadena (452 cases), Sunland (106 cases), and Tujunga (81 cases).

For a complete up to date list of COVID-19 posit cases by cities and institutions, visit: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/

Public Health continues planning for recovery and relaxing select directives of the Safer at Home Order. As relaxing occurs, businesses and residents will need to continue to observe and practice physical distancing requirements and infection control precautions. Physical distancing, wearing cloth face coverings, frequent hand washing, self-isolation and self-quarantine will continue to be very important throughout the foreseeable future. People who have underlying health conditions will still be at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, so it will continue to be very important for our vulnerable residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and medicine delivered, and to know to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

An interactive dashboard is available that provides an overview on COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths along with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity. To view Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, visit:
http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/ .

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded their list of symptoms that people are experiencing when they are positive for COVID-19, these are; having a cough, shortness of breath, having a fever, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, having a sore throat, and a new loss of taste or smell. Be on the lookout for these symptoms and call your provider if you are experiencing even mild illness. If you need a provider, call 211.

Given the current economic crises as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling 211 can also connect older adults and people with differing abilities to delivery of meals and critical goods.