On Friday the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 55 deaths in the county, the most in any 24-hour period during the coronavirus pandemic. It is the third day in a row that deaths exceeded 40 which represents a significant increase over numbers reported a week ago.

The health department also confirmed 399 new cases of COVID-19, since the update on Thursday, which is a significant decrease from last week. Forty-three people who died were over the age of 65, and nine were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old. Forty-eight people had underlying health conditions, while four people over the age of 65 had no reported underlying health conditions. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and two deaths by the City of Pasadena.

The confirmed positive cases in the city of Claremont remains constant at 13.

To date, public health has identified 10,854 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 455 deaths. Eighty-eight percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 390 people (92 percent of the cases); 33 percent of deaths occurred among Hispanic residents, 31 percent among white residents, 17 percent among Asian residents, 16 percent among African American residents, and 3 percent among residents identifying as other races.

“The increase this week on the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 is distressing and a stark reminder of the devastation caused by COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health. “Public health is planning for our county’s eventual recovery and preparing for a time when we can ease the health officer orders. Our goal is to get people back to work by gradually relaxing restrictions in a measured and disciplined way to avoid experiencing a resurgence of cases that overwhelms our healthcare system and threatens our collective wellbeing. Many routines will still be different, and practicing physical distancing, wearing face coverings, and keeping our hands clean will be very important until we have a vaccine.”