February 28, 2022

Today, Public Health confirmed 67 additional deaths and 2,169 cases on Sunday and 664 new cases are being reported today. The higher number of cases and deaths reflect delays in reporting from the weekend.
Of the 67 newly reported deaths, 55 had underlying health conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 30,716.
Today’s positivity rate is 1.1%.
There are 916 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized.

---

Several free treatment options are available and can be used to prevent severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. Treatments are available for those who are at increased risk of severe disease, test positive for COVID-19, and have any symptoms, even mild ones (such as runny nose or cough). Five therapeutic options have been authorized by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19 in individuals ages 12 and over who are at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness:

Oral Therapeutics (Pills)

Paxlovid (must be taken within 5 days of first COVID-19 symptom)

Molnupiravir (must be taken within 5 days of first COVID-19 symptom) **Oral therapeutic treatments require a prescription from a healthcare provider.

Monoclonal Antibody Intravenous (IV) and Antiviral Infusions

Sotrovimab (must be administered within 10 days of first COVID-19 symptom)

Remdesivir (must be given within 7 days of first COVID-19 symptom)

Evusheld available for people who can’t get a COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons, or who may not respond well to a vaccine because they have a weak immune system due to a medical condition or treatment. (must be administered before a person is exposed to COVID-19 to prevent them from getting infected)

For the week of February 25, L.A. County received 3,880 doses of Paxlovid, Pfizer’s oral treatment, that was distributed to providers, pharmacies, and clinics; this is a 38% increase from the allocation of the prior week. Overall, the county has been allotted a total of 14,740 doses of Paxlovid since the medication was first approved by the FDA to treat high-risk patients for COVID-19.

For the week February 25, L.A. County also received 4,392 doses of Molnupiravir, Merck’s oral treatment, a 110% increase from the amount sent the prior week. Since its FDA approval, the county has been allocated over 36,700 doses that have been distributed to county providers, pharmacies, and clinics.

The county also was allocated 336 doses of Evusheld; this is an increase of 367% from the allocation the previous week.

In total, more than 60,000 doses of these three COVID-19 therapeutics have been distributed across LA County since they first became available in December.

Residents who would like to access these medicines or have questions on which treatment is right for them should contact their medical provider or call the COVID-19 information line at 833-540-0473, 8:00 am – 8:30 pm daily. The call center is a free resource where residents can get culturally and linguistically appropriate information about available therapeutics, and how to access them. Because providers need to be registered in a federal management platform to receive these medications, Public Health is working to enroll enough providers to ensure a vast network of sites that can provide information, have a supply of therapeutics, and prescribing ability across the county, with emphasis on ensuring equitable distribution among hard hit and low-resourced communities.

As Public Health continues to build out the network of providers, a pilot will be launched using telehealth platforms at select sites to augment locations that can prescribe and distribute oral therapeutics in low resource communities.