The county also reported another 4,330 new cases on Friday, although 889 of them were attributed to a reporting backlog. The new cases pushed the county’s cumulative total from throughout the…
The winter surge of COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County resulted in dramatically lower death rates among the homeless than the previous winter’s spike, but the homeless still died at twice the rate of county residents as a whole, public health officials said on Friday, Feb. 18.
The stark difference comes despite a dramatic drop in the homeless COVID death rate from the previous winter. According to the county, the death rate in the 2020-21 winter surge among the homeless was 237 per 100,000 —roughly four times the rate of the 2021-22 surge. “Our collective efforts to vaccinate, boost, mask and take additional safety measures reduces the risks of severe illness or death for those most impacted by the overwhelming consequences of COVID,” she said. “We are grateful to our partners for reaching out and providing services and support to those who remain unhoused and join with others to support and implement actions that address the devastating impact of homelessness on the health and well-being of so many residents.