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The Board of Supervisors has approved a $1.22 billion spending package to fund a broad range of essential services and relief measures to assist people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The plan covers spending in four main areas:

• $656 million for public health measures including testing and contact tracing
• $200 million for financial support for residents in the form of assistance for rent relief, food and child care
• $160 million in grants to support small businesses
• $150 million to support the County workforce’s response to the emergency, including disaster services workers and personal protective equipment for employees

The plan also includes nearly $55 million to cover contingencies including potential health care system surges and other urgent needs that may emerge as the pandemic continues.

The comprehensive spending proposal allocates funding across a wide range of services. Major allocations include $226 million for community-based COVID-19 diagnostic testing and $100 million for rent relief to assist residents countywide.

Funds were also allocated to programs to assist vulnerable people during the crisis, including $148 million for Project Roomkey, which provides temporary housing to medically at-risk people experiencing homelessness.

Other allocations include $10 million allocated to the L.A. Regional Food Bank for food distribution events; $60 million to support other nutritional programs; $15 million for the Great Plates delivery program for seniors and medically at-risk adults; and $15 million for child care vouchers for low-income families and essential workers.

“This funding comes at a critical time for Los Angeles County,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “This plan addresses our ability to provide essential services, expand testing, contact tracing and meet tangible needs for working families and small businesses who are struggling and increasing bearing the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“$1.22 billion is a lot of money, but it isn’t enough for a County as large as ours. We must maximize each precious dollar by investing resources in our communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 due to years of systemic inequities that have left them chronically underinvested and underserved,” said Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “The CARES Act funding plan will ramp up our testing and contact tracing, enhance our food assistance programs, and provide much-needed rent relief and eviction defense to vulnerable residents. In addition, we made provisions to allocate grants to local small businesses to help them comply with worker protection requirements. I will continue advocating that CARES Act funding be directed to our most disadvantaged communities that have historically been denied access to resources and services.”

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas added, “From COVID-19 testing and isolation, to rental subsidies and small business assistance, it is imperative that our COVID-19 relief strategies break down the racial disparities and longstanding systemic and structural inequities that limit access to health and wealth. By doing so, we can help communities not only recover but thrive.”

“It’s extremely important that the County make these commitments to our emergency health response, including strengthening our testing and contact tracing efforts, as well as for rent relief and to bolster and sustain our food security programs,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “COVID-19 has knocked many vulnerable residents to their knees, and these investments will allow us to continue to help people as we work to bring the pandemic under control.”

“L.A. County is the ultimate safety net and more people need our help than ever before. This funding is going to help residents pay their rent, get food to communities in need, and help small businesses keep their doors open,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “ I have challenged the County to meet this moment and I will continue to do so as this crisis continues.”

For a full list of program allocations, click here.

LOS ANGELES— Los Angeles health officials today announced details of a focused effort to expand testing capacity by over 65% in targeted “hot-spot” communities in response to data showing a disproportionately higher burden of COVID-related illness in communities of color and those with higher rates of poverty. Officials also announced a $4 million investment in public-private partnerships, outreach, and community engagement to reduce transmission disparities and facilitate broader access to testing while providing historically under-resourced communities with resources.

The data collected from County-supported testing sites points to a concerning trend in higher test positivity rate by race and economic status and higher mortality rate in Black and Latinx communities, where the age-adjudged mortality rate is twice that of whites. Test positivity is an important indicator of the trajectory of the pandemic and the ability to provide enough testing needed to keep transmission low. The rate of test positivity is higher among the Latinx community than among any other racial or ethnic group in L.A. County; data also shows a direct correlation between poverty level and test positivity.

“This data is alarming and requires urgent focus to do more to expand access to testing and address the health equity issues that COVID-19 makes tragically clear every day,” said Los Angeles County Department of Health Services director Dr. Christina Ghaly.  “We must remember that testing is only one factor. There are underlying reasons why communities of color are disproportionately impacted by worse outcomes of COVID-19—long-standing structural and systemic issues, including social determinants of health, that the County is working to address and mitigate amidst this pandemic.”

Focusing on “hot-spot” areas, the County is adding testing capacity by standing up new sites and adding capacity to existing sites in a manner that addresses the stark disproportionality of testing access facing vulnerable populations identified through heat mapping. The mapping shows communities with higher test positivity and mortality rates and where the overall testing rate is not meeting the 1.5 tests per 1,000 daily threshold set by the State of California.

The multi-pronged effort includes the following:

• Adding six new sites in high-need areas including Montebello, South Gate, Azusa, Panorama City, Compton and Downey/Norwalk, and expanding capacity at existing sites in Bellflower, Pomona, El Monte and East Los Angeles;
• Allocating $4 million from a Center for Disease Control grant to support a broadcast media and grassroots in-language, culturally-responsive messaging campaign including work with community-based organizations to perform outreach and education to community members and provide linkages to testing, healthcare and support services including housing, food and health insurance;
• Supporting additional public-private partnerships and funding partners embedded in high-risk communities as trusted messengers to effectively reach the most at-risk and historically under-resourced communities;
• And expanding a successful pilot of community engagement at County-operated sites that connects community members to medical care and support services at the point of testing in concert and leverages collaborations with partners to distribute resource kits at other testing sites in high risk area that include protective equipment, basic need materials, food vouchers and multi-lingual and culturally sensitive prevention materials

“When we look at areas of highest need, adding testing sites is only one piece of a broader approach and it doesn’t stop there,” said emergency room physician and Department of Health Services’ Director of Language Access and Inclusion, Dr. Erika Flores Uribe. “We must couple that with funneled medical and social resources to close the disparity gap through highly targeted, layered, in-language and culturally responsive outreach and support.”

The Positivity Curves by Race and Poverty, as well as the Heatmap, can be found in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Community Testing Dashboard is available on the DHS website at http://dhs.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/dhs or via the direct file link at http://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dhs/1075560_LACountyCOVID-19CommunityTestingDashboard-Final7.15.20.pdf.

Los Angeles County is changing scheduling platforms for COVID-19 testing at its nine operated testing sites. The new platform was developed by Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLGT), the lab used at the County-run sites. Scheduling on the new platform will begin later today (7/13/20).

The new platform was designed to provide more user-friendly experience that directly interfaces with the lab, reducing the number of errors in data processing and minimizing the number of participants who might experience a delay in getting their results due to a mismatch in demographic information associated with the test kit.

The platform also allows residents to cancel an appointment, making that slot available for another resident to schedule. The new platform will also enable the lab to collect and validate insurance information in order to bill an individual’s insurance if the person has coverage, making community-based testing more sustainable. Testing at all County-sponsored sites will continue to be free of charge regardless of insurance coverage.

Individuals who visit the former scheduling site (https://lacovidprod.service-now.com/rrs) will receive a message directing them to the new Fulgent platform site, https://la.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment. Scheduling platforms for the L.A. City-supported, State-supported and other testing partner sites will remain the same. The County’s main hub page (https://covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/) will continue to provide updated information and resources and link users to the new platform.

“This change is part of continuous efforts to improve the user experience and make scheduling an appointment as efficient as possible,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which oversees County-supported community testing locations. “As we work to expand capacity at current sites and add new sites to keep pace with demand, this new platform will help us streamline our operations and ensure continued testing access.”

COVID testing, as with any clinical diagnostic test, is best done within an individual’s usual health care setting. Individuals with insurance and those who have a regular provider or source of care are urged to first contact their provider before scheduling an appointment at a County-run testing site. To get connected to a provider, residents can call toll-free 211.

With temperatures in parts of Los Angeles County expected to rise into the triple digits this weekend, several public facilities located throughout the County will serve as Emergency Cooling Centers on Saturday and Sunday. These centers provide members of the public who lack air conditioning at home with relief from the heat, free of charge. All centers will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m, and will operate in compliance with physical distancing and other COVID-19 safety criteria from the current Health Officer Order.

Multiple Emergency Cooling Centers will open their doors in areas that have been selected based on heat forecasts provided by the National Weather Service and impact to regions identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. More locations may be added or hours extended based on weather conditions. To obtain a list of the County’s Emergency Cooling Centers or view a map of these sites, visit ready.lacounty.gov/heat or dial 2-1-1.

The County also reminds all members of the public to take the following extra precautions during hot weather:

• Avoid the sun – stay indoors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. when the burning rays are strongest.
• Drink plenty of fluids – 2 to 4 glasses of water every hour during times of extreme heat.
• Replace salt and minerals – sweating removes salt and minerals from your body, so replenish these nutrients with low sugar fruit juices or sports drinks during exercise or when working outside.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Pace yourself – reduce physical activity and avoid exercising outdoors during peak heat hours.
• Wear appropriate clothing – wear a wide-brimmed hat and light-colored lightweight, loose-fitting clothes when you are outdoors.
• Stay cool indoors during peak hours – set your air conditioner between 75° to 80°. If you don’t have air conditioning, take a cool shower twice a day and/or visit a County Emergency Cooling Center. Find a local emergency cooling center at ready.lacounty.gov/heat.
• Monitor those at high risk – check on elderly neighbors, family members and friends who do not have air conditioning. Infants and children up to 4 years old, people who overexert during work (e.g. construction workers) and people 65 years and older are at the highest risk of heat-related illnesses.
• Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 if you need to be in the sun.
• Keep pets indoors – heat also affects your pets, so please keep them indoors. If they will be outside, make sure they have plenty of water and a shaded area to help them keep cool.

For more information on heat-related illnesses and prevention, please visit the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s website at publichealth.lacounty.gov.

As part of its commitment to ensure access to testing during a critical new phase of the epidemic, Los Angeles County has committed $400,000 in one-time bridge funding to support staffing-related costs at COVID-19 testing sites operated by CORE within the City of Los Angeles.  

The County’s contribution to CORE will help support their current operations while the nonprofit secures other funding streams and will be extended as needed. In addition to supporting these sites, the County will continue to fully fund its nine-operated sites and is also preparing to add additional testing sites in coming weeks to areas identified as “hot spots” where data illustrates high test positivity, low testing access, and high mortality.  That effort will include partnerships with community-based organizations to aggressively target high-risk communities through street outreach teams delivering COVID-19 prevention messages door-to-door.

The County’s financial support to CORE aims to preserve critical testing access, especially in low-income, vulnerable communities hard-hit by the epidemic, as health officials point to rising numbers of positive cases and positive tests as evidence of increased community spread. 

Note that contrary to media inquiries, yesterday’s temporary closure of Dodger Stadium was due to a planned staff training, not a result of a lack of funding.

“Access to COVID-19 testing is one of the many critical steps needed to protect the safety and well-being of Los Angeles County residents and help support our recovery,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “This funding provides the opportunity for the County to maintain crucial testing sites and ensure the availability of appointments throughout the entire region, helping to keep our community safe.” 

“Sadly, COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting our Black and brown communities that lack access to quality healthcare due to longstanding racial and ethnic disparities. To address this inequity, LA County will step up and invest funds to support all COVID-19 testing sites throughout the City of Los Angeles, including the Dodger Stadium site where up to 6,000 people a day can be tested,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “I want testing to be accessible, free, and safe for anyone who needs to 

be tested for COVID-19. LA County is committed to widening access to testing sites for everyone.” 

“With increased community spread of COVID-19 and heightened demand for testing, the County is pleased to step up and financially support CORE and ensure continued access to testing, especially for our at-risk communities,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which oversees the County’s community-based testing sites.  “As transmission of this virus accelerates, it’s more important than ever to work together to resolve short-term funding shortfalls and remain united in protecting the health and safety of all residents.”

Individuals needing testing who are symptomatic or have a known exposure to a positive case are urged to first seek testing from their provider if they have one.  Individuals needing referral to a provider can dial toll-free 211. Individuals can register for a test at multiple government-run and partner sites by visiting covid19.lacounty.gov/testing.