by Steven Felschundneff steven@claremont-courier.com

New data released on Tuesday by Los Angeles County Public Health reports no deaths from the novel coronavirus in the city of Claremont. However, Los Angeles County reached a grim landmark in the same report, recording its 1,000th death. Total cases in the city of Claremont remain at 22 for the fourth consecutive day, with just 217 out of Claremont’s population of 36,484 having received the test.

Los Angeles County currently accounts for 55 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state of California, which has recorded 1,809. Just 12 states have more total deaths than L.A. County, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. That places us between Maryland with 1,019 deaths and Indiana with 901. However, when adjusted for population the county’s death rate is only 9.6 per 100,000, whereas the rate is 17 for Maryland and 13.6 for Indiana.

Public Health has confirmed 59 new deaths and 597 new cases of COVID-19 since its update on Sunday. Thirty-six people who died were over the age of 65; 16 were between the ages of 41 and 65, and one was between 18 and 40. Forty-two people had underlying health conditions including 28 over the age of 65.

Since its first coronavirus update on March 4, health officials have reported 1,000 deaths and identified 20,976 positive cases across all areas of L.A. County. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. As of Tuesday, a total of 4,507 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (23% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness.

“LA County has hit the tragic milestone of 1,000 people dying from COVID-19. Please know that if you are grieving the loss of loved ones who have died from COVID-19, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your family, and your friends. We wish you healing and peace,” Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said.