Glendale confirms 9th coronavirus case, as L.A. County total climbs to 509
UPDATE: Glendale now has 9 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to an L.A. County Department of Health report released less than an hour ago. The county is now reporting a total 509 cases and seven deaths linked to the virus that causes COVID-19.
Glendale now has six confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, up from four cases reported on Friday, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Department of Health released Sunday afternoon.
The number has been climbing slowly but steadily since the first local confirmed case was reported by USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale on the morning of March 16.
Later that day, county health officials listed two known cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Neighboring Burbank currently has two confirmed cases of the virus, reporting its first last Thursday. Earlier today, a Hollywood Burbank airport employee responsible for handling luggage tested positive for the virus.
Pasadena has three reported cases, and La Cañada-Flintridge has one.
Since Friday, there have been 132 more cases confirmed in the county, bringing the total to 409. Five deaths in the county have been linked to the spreading virus.
L.A. County’s Department of Public Health is the lead agency managing the testing and known cases of the virus for Glendale and Burbank. Pasadena has its own health department.
Citing privacy concerns, hospital officials in Glendale and Burbank have been holding information about patients close to the vest.
The patient who tested positive at USC-VHH was in quarantine and doing well the morning the case was reported, the hospital’s chief executive, Keith Hobbs, said in an email to staff.
The hospital has declined to provide any further updates about the patient or identifying information, including age. It has not announced any additional cases.
“USC Verdugo Hills Hospital is committed to transparency balanced with our patients’ right to privacy,” said Dr. Armand Dorian, chief medical officer at the hospital, in a statement.
“We are working closely with local health officials to investigate who may be at risk for infection and notifying any high-risk individuals to self-isolate at this time,” he added.
A spokesperson from Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank wrote in an email that the hospital “deeply respects our patients’ privacy and does not acknowledge whether individuals are being treated for COVID-19 or any illness or injury in our hospital.”
Local agencies are only notified and/or permitted to release public information of a positive test if there is known public exposure, or if an event needs to be canceled or a facility needs to be closed, according to city spokeswoman Eliza Papazian.
It’s up to individual hospitals to decide whether or not to release information about confirmed cases at their facilities, City Manager Yasmin Beers said during an emergency City Council meeting last week.
Glendale Adventist would not confirm or deny positive cases, according to hospital spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez.
Officials at Dignity Health-Glendale Memorial Hospital declined to comment beyond a statement last week that the hospital was prepared to identify, isolate and treat potential patients with the virus, according to a statement from the hospital.