Suspected First US COVID-19 Death of Child Reported in LA County: Official

Doctors test hospital staff with flu-like symptoms for the CCP virus in tents set up to triage possible COVID-19 patients outside before they enter the main emergency department area at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City on March 24, 2020. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Los Angeles County Health officials confirmed that a child died of the CCP virus, along with three other deaths, as more than 100 new cases were announced.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the head of Public Health for Los Angeles County, said in a televised conference that “a person under the age of 18” died and serves as “a devastating reminder that COVID-19 affects people of all ages.” She did not disclose the exact age of the individual but added the person is from Lancaster.

It’s believed to be first time a person under the age of 18 has died of the CCP virus in the United States.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Ferrer said the total number of cases has reached 662, with 128 new cases being reported on Tuesday. So far, 11 people have died of the virus.

Forty-two percent of the cases involve patients between the ages of 18 and 40, and 39 percent are between the age of 41 and 65, she added.

“These are difficult numbers to report, because behind these numbers are families and friends who are experiencing terrible loss. We, the entire L.A. County community, keep you in our thoughts and our prayers,” she said.

The virus “does not discriminate by age, race or income level, and what we are seeing in places like New York is indicative of what we should prepare to experience here,” Ferrer said. She again called for self-quarantine and distancing measures to “flatten the curve” across California.

The number of cases in Los Angeles County is sure to rise as more testing for the virus becomes available, county officials also said.