Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said she felt compelled to contextualize the number of coronavirus deaths in light of claims that the virus “is not a cause for concern,” adding that “it just doesn’t It is true”.
Between January and June of last year, coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death in the county with nearly 6,000 deaths.
In comparison, Ferrer noted that COVID-19 has killed just over 3,400 between January and June this year. Those figures don’t take into account July numbers, bringing the county’s death toll to 4,213.
While not a perfect comparison as the numbers for other leading causes of death have not been finalized for this year, COVID-19 “appears to be on track to claim more lives in Los Angeles County than any other disease except illness. coronary, “said Ferrer.
He added that more people die from the virus than other types of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke and COPD.
Compared to deaths from the flu, which is “a dangerous virus in its own right,” Ferrer said, “It is also not as deadly as COVID-19 to date.”
From October 2019 to May 2020, 1,521 people in the county died of the flu or pneumonia. In the first six months of 2020, COVID-19 killed twice as many, 3,402, as the flu during that eight-month period.
“I would like to emphasize that, unlike (the) flu, there is no vaccine for COVID-19 at this time,” said Ferrer, stressing the importance of flattening the curve and reducing the spread to limit strain on the local health system. . Once the flu season begins.
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