An additional 51 people have died in Los Angeles County from COVID-19 illness over the past 24 hours for a total of 1,709 deaths thus far in the pandemic, it was announced Thursday.
One individual who died was an inmate at the Terminal Island federal prison, the eighth person there to fall victim to the coronavirus.
In revealing the latest numbers, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer noted that the high number of deaths dwarfs that of the average fatality rates of influenza, or the common flu.
She said there were 125 flu-related deaths in the county in 2019 and on average there are about 250 deaths per year. "That’s why the mortality rate [for COVID-19] is so worrisome," explained Ferrer.