L.A. County coronavirus death toll passes 240 as cases top 8,400

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Socially distanced bikers and walkers, against a backdrop of the Queen Mary, make their way along pedestrian and beach bike path on the first day that Long Beach reopened the path on Monday May 11, 2020. The city of Long Beach eased a few of its public health restrictions, allowing under certain guidelines the reopening of pedestrian and beach bike paths, tennis centers and courts. Beach bathrooms are also reopening, but the parking lots and beaches still remain closed. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

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Traffic remains light on the southbound 110 Freeway headed toward downtown Los Angeles on April 28. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Dominique Barrett, center, known as “King Vader” to his 2.4 million TikTok followers, prepares to shoot a video on April 30 in Glendora. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Cody Purcell of Redondo Beach rides a wave, glowing from the bioluminescence, in Hermosa Beach, CA, after midnight Friday morning, May 8. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Friends play spikeball, a game perfect for social distancing on an open but restricted San Buenaventura State Beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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The majority of golfers are wearing masks while hitting balls on the driving range at Van Buren Executive Golf Course in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Beaches including Harbor Cove Beach were open but beachgoers were not supposed to be sitting on the sand. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Tango instructor Yelizaveta Nersesova leads a Zoom tango event from her Los Angeles home April 27 that brought together hundreds of dancers from around the world. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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Grocery store workers, joined by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 770 representatives and community members, hold a rally in support of strict social distancing on May 1 at a Ralphs store in Hollywood where 19 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

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Mostly masked commuters keep their distance from one another on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles on April 29. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

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Gregory Kuhl, 69, heads home after a shopping trip in Hollywood on April 28. Big cracks in the street, cars parked in driveways blocking sidewalks and uneven pavement levels make navigating his route difficult. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Tenants and their supporters from across Los Angeles gather at city hall to call on L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, the L.A. City Council and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 crisis. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Aerial view of over 100 vehicles lined up at the West Valley COVID-19 testing center at Warner Center in Woodland Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Senior Mason Wise, left, helps his sister, Mackenzie, a sophomore, clean out her PE locker at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills. School officials were allowing no more than five students at a time on campus to take home their belongings. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Shuttered storefront businesses in the garment district of Los Angeles. California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed since the statewide coronavirus shutdown took effect. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Healthcare workers celebrate as Claudia Martinez is discharged from the ICU after she recovered from COVID-19 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Carson residents Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out the window of their car after their mothers helped them with self-testing at a new drive-up testing site for COVID-19 in Carson. Free COVID-19 testing is available to all city residents thanks to a partnership between the city and US Health Fairs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Norm and Tracy Kahn enjoy eating dinner outside on a small cafe table sitting in blue chairs on their side yard during the coronavirus pandemic on April 27 in Riverside. “During this pandemic, eating outside offers us an opportunity to change surrounding and appreciate the calmness of being outdoors among trees, scents from nature and the sounds of birds,” she said. Also adding, “Mixing up where we eat puts variety into our days and takes away the sameness of feeling trapped at home.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center nurses carry supplies outside the hospital. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Tom Sean Foley pauses on a walk with his kids, Cathelen Claire, “C.C.,” 3, and Timothy Joseph, 4, to take a photo in front of the “Love Wall,” mural by artist Curtis Kulig, outside of Smashbox Studios in Culver City. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters stand along Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach during A Day of Liberty rally on April 26. The protesters were against the government shutdown due to the coronavirus. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

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People make orders at a food truck along Shoreline Avenue in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Medical staff, wearing protective gear, work inside a COVID-19 isolation area inside the emergency department at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, where patients with the virus are being treated. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the nice weather near The Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

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Counter-protesters attend a protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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A group of protesters cheer on cars during a vehicle caravan protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation staff member Navi Cavaltera waters a flower pot put up by the community to show their support for the nursing staff of the facility in Yucaipa. Eighteen of 20 coronavirus-related deaths in Yucaipa were residents of the skilled nursing facility. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes a mural on a store on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jonte Florence, a freestyle dancer, does a handstand on a mostly empty Hollywood Walk of Fame. Florence said he normally performs for hundreds of tourists along the busy street. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The Tyrannosaurus rex overlooking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue wears a protective mask while practicing social distancing. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Businesses are shuttered and pedestrians are few and far between on Hollywood Boulevard. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Daniel Rogerson wears a vintage military gas mask while riding a bike along the beach path in Santa Monica, which is closed to enforce social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A face mask seller in colorful dress appears to be part of a mural behind a bus stop on Soto Street in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Life around Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Soto Street has slowed down as California officials extended stay-at-home orders into May and residents entered Easter weekend with unprecedented limits on their movements. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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UC Irvine Medical Center health care workers return their gratitude as about 25 Orange County first responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Billy Budd, 55, of Hollywood, walks along Hollywood Boulevard with a protective face covering. Budd is a scenic artist for movies and television who is currently out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Stuart Reyes and his sister, Stephanie, sell masks for $5 each on the 3000 block of West Century Boulevard in Inglewood. Stuart Reyes said he is selling masks to support his mother. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A jogger runs on a closed trail past dozens of pieces of caution tape, torn off by hikers and mountain bikers at El Escorpion Canyon Park in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Alex Herron and nurse Mercy Pineda at a blood drive sponsored by USC athletics and the American Red Cross at USC’s Galen Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles City Hall displays blue lights to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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After being indoors for several days because of rainy weather and coronavirus stay-at-home orders, Olivia Jacobs, 4, and her mom, Cia Jacobs, enjoy a warm and sunny afternoon making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their home in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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An Oceanview Plaza security guard sports a whimsical mask while on patrol. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Jacob De Wilde, left, and Lesli Lytle load a car with food during a food distribution organized to mark Good Friday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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As a late season storm continues to make its way across the Southland, a young basketball player dribbles along an alley through an Elysian Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

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People are silhouetted in a window of an apartment building in Hollywood, where a stay-at-home order remains in effect to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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The Wilshire Grand Center display blue lights and a heart to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Women wear masks as they stroll along Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Wearing masks while outdoors is mandatory in the city of Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A specimen is turned in at the new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Hippie Kitchen in Los Angeles hands out food, water and toiletries to homeless people and residents of skid row. Additionally, masks were offered to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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Nurses pose for a fun photo during a break in drive-through public testing for the coronavirus at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman shows a notice from her doctor that allows her to obtain a test for coronavirus at a new drive-up testing site in a parking lot at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A person who wishes to remain anonymous strikes from her car to support McDonald’s employees who are demanding the company cover healthcare costs of any worker or immediate family member who gets sick from COVID-19 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Cassidy Roosen, with Beach Cities Health District, holds up a sign that says, “We’re All in This Together,” while waiting to direct cars at a drive-through, appointment-only coronavirus testing location at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Grace Carter, 15, of Riverside, practices a dance routine at home after dance classes and school were canceled. She has to use the Zoom app on her iPhone to practice with her dance group. “It’s hard,” she said. “My bedroom is a smaller space. I miss all my friends at the studio.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A man works from his home in Long Beach. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A San Bernardino County healthcare worker takes a sample at a coronavirus drive-through testing site at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A Metro general service employee disinfects a bench in Boyle Heights. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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A runner jogs past the Pottery Barn in Pasadena. Some businesses in the area have boarded up their stores. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Raquel Lezama and daughter Monica Ramos collect meals for their family at Manual Arts High School. Lezama was laid off from her $17.76-an-hour job at a Beverly Hills hotel. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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The Iron City Tavern in San Pedro tries an incentive to lure takeout customers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Healthcare workers gather outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Kristen Edgerle, of Victorville, collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at The Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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Shauna Jin, of Los Angeles, with her dog, Bodhi, practices social distancing with John Kiss, of Los Angeles, at the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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A lending library had some additional useful items, including a roll of toilet paper and cans of beans and corn, in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters drive by the Getty House, the home of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, in Hancock Park. Tenant advocates are demanding a total moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus crisis. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Venice residents Emily Berry and Gavin Kelley take a break at Venice Beach. Berry, a cocktail waitress at Enterprise Fish Co., lost her job due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kelley, a manager at a performing arts school with a focus on music, said that he still has a job and that classes at the school will resume online this coming Monday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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The JW Marriott at L.A. Live is sharing a message of hope with red lights in 34 windows, creating a 19-story display on the hotel’s north side. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Juan Diaz Jr., a lifelong Dodgers fan, prays that the season will start by May in front of Dodger Stadium on what would have been opening day. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Hayley, CEO and founder of Love My Neighbor Foundation, right, dances with Crystal Armster, 51, while she and her colleagues continue to feed the homeless on skid row amid the pandemic. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A masked passenger on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Dede Oneal waits for a coronavirus test at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A man in a mask passes a closed restaurant along Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Artist Corie Mattie paints a mural on the side of a pop-up store as a man takes a picture in West Hollywood. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Medical assistant Zoila Villalta works with Rosie Boston, 32, of Glendale, who is donating blood for her first time at L.A. Care Health Plan downtown. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple wait for a bus outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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With all Los Angeles schools closed until further notice, LAUSD buses sit idle in Gardena. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A lone traveler makes his way to catch a flight in Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Denise Young looks on as her daughter, Allison, 9, a fourth-grader at EARThS (Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences) Magnet School in Newbury Park, receives a Chromebook. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Hollywood Boulevard is devoid of the usual crowds. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Michael Ray, 11, plays before a movie at the Paramount Drive-In. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Isabella Leader, 15, counts how many flags have been left for World War II veteran Lt. Col. Sam Sachs who was celebrating his 105th birthday at the Mom & Dad’s House, an assisted living facility, in Lakewood. Lt. Col. Sachs appealed to the public for birthday cards after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of a big celebration and wound up receiving thousands, including a letter and photo from President Trump. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

By Luke Money

, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Taryn Luna and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

April 10, 2020 Updated 6:54 PM PT

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Los Angeles County rose to 8,430 on Friday as health officials extended mask-wearing requirements and the local stay-at-home order in a bid to stem the disease’s spread.

The county’s death toll increased by 18, to 241, a 6% increase from the previous day. Of those new victims, 10 were older than 65, seven were between 41 and 65 years old, and one was between 18 and 40, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday marked the fifth day in a row with a single-digit percentage increase in coronavirus cases from the previous day.

Garcetti also announced that the county’s 22nd testing location opened Friday and that there are plans to open a second walk-in testing site in South L.A. By the end of Friday, more than 37,000 L.A. County residents will have been tested for the virus, twice the number of those tested last week.

Countywide, the mortality rate associated with COVID-19 is now 2.9%. Many of the victims, about 1 in 4, lived in an institutional setting, such as a nursing home or shelter, according to the county health department.

Among those who have died was an L.A. city employee who has not yet been identified.

“Unfortunately among the fallen” is a city employee, Garcetti said Friday. “It wasn’t just lip service that these are going to be tough days…. I love sharing the news of the progress we’re making, but it saddens me deeply that we have lost from our own city family.”

Garcetti initially said two city employees had died.

Alex Comisar, the mayor’s spokesman, revised the number on Saturday but did not explain why the mayor originally gave a different number. He also did not say where the city employee who died had been working.

Garcetti said 15 Los Angeles Fire Department employees and 52 Los Angeles Police Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and three remain hospitalized.

Los Angeles County health officials warned that the region needs to significantly increase physical distancing efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus and said stay-at-home restrictions could remain into the summer. Even with the dramatic social distancing the county is now seeing, officials forecast that up to 30% of residents could be infected by midsummer without more behavioral changes, such as reducing shopping trips.

The county’s stay-at-home order will now be in effect through at least May 15.

Ferrer said the decision to extend the order wasn’t made “because everything everyone has been doing isn’t working … it’s because it is working. We know it’s effective, but we still have a ways to go.”

“I’m as sad as you are to note that this is not the time to lift, but I also am really hopeful … that because everyone here is doing their part, because people are heeding the directives, we have in fact seen what we can now confirm is in fact the flattening of the curve in a way that is actually saving lives,” she said.

Based on the latest projections, officials believe the healthcare system will be “able to manage” the expected increase in patients “if we maintain the current physical distancing guidelines,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the county Department of Health Services.

“Over the next month, we project that we are able — within the existing hospital supply, without any additional surge — to accommodate all of the patients that need care for COVID-19,” she said.

Projections indicate the county may need an additional 400 to 500 intensive care beds, she added, but that potential gap “is well able to be corrected for in the days or weeks to come, and there are already multiple efforts underway to do so.”

“I do know that it’s difficult. I know that it comes with a personal and economic cost,” she said of the health orders. “But it is beneficial in terms of saving lives and making sure the hospital system can take care of those who need it.”

Los Angeles hospitals have partnered with the city to offer child-care programs for essential workers at healthcare facilities, Garcetti announced Friday. Employees at the participating medical centers can access either a $100 stipend per shift to help pay for child care, free referrals to local care facilities or access to child care at nearby recreation centers.

Essential businesses that will remain open through the extended stay-at-home order will also be required to post their COVID-19 safety protocols near their entrances, Garcetti said.

While it’s not clear how long stay-at-home and other such restrictions need to be in place, state officials said the efforts are having a positive effect.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly presented a chart Friday showing that the number of hospitalizations statewide — most recently pegged at 2,897 — is trending on the low end of the state’s models.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that reemphasizes the importance for residents to do everything they can to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“Not only is the past not equal to the future, but we also have to recognize that we are not just along for the ride as it relates to experiencing the future,” he said. “The future happens inside of us. It’s decisions, not conditions, that will determine the fate and future of this modeling.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state surpassed 20,000 as many local officials prepared for a weekend of unprecedented restrictions, including efforts to keep people at home during Easter and Passover.

Beginning Friday, a new order requires Los Angeles residents to wear masks when they go shopping for food or leave their homes for other essential trips. The order also requires many essential workers to wear masks. Ferrer announced the county would roll out such mandates next week.

Beverly Hills went a step further, ordering residents Thursday to wear face coverings whenever they leave their homes, including for walks through their neighborhoods.

Under the order, drivers traveling alone or with members of their households do not need to wear face coverings unless they lower their vehicle’s windows for any reason, including to interact with first responders, food service workers or others who are not members of their household.

Communities are also imposing new rules designed to prevent Easter gatherings where the virus could spread.

All public parks in L.A. County will be closed Easter Sunday. “I know your heart breaks…. This is such a great tradition for the many families we have,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “But we can’t afford to have one cluster of even just a few people together spread this disease to more people and kill them.”

In Orange County, police said they will be out in force to prevent car cruising, which is an Easter tradition in Santa Ana.

Newport Beach announced Thursday that, in light of crowds at one of its most popular surf spots, surfing at the Wedge will be prohibited between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. starting Friday.

The adjacent beach area will also close in an attempt to discourage public gatherings at one of the city’s most visited surf spots.

San Bernardino County has urged churches to hold only virtual Easter services.

“People may not leave their homes for driving parades or drive-up services or to pick up nonessential items such as prepackaged Easter eggs or bags filled with candy and toys at a drive-through location,” the county said in a statement this week.

After announcing the initial ban, however, the county pulled back and said drive-in religious services could proceed, but congregants must be kept apart.

Ventura County has banned all public and private gatherings of more than two people outside a single household or living unit, although an updated public health order released Thursday allows for a few exceptions.

That’s not to say that worshipers shouldn’t feel free to practice their faith, Newsom said, but “as you pray, move your feet at least six feet apart from someone else.”

“Practice your faith,” he said, “but do so in a way that allows you to keep yourself healthy, keep others healthy and does justice to the teaching of Christ, God and others.”

The heightened guidance comes as federal health projections indicate that lifting restrictions such as stay-at-home orders, physical distancing measures and school closures too early could lead to a significant increase in coronavirus infections and deaths nationwide.

California has not seen the death toll of virus hot spots such as New York state, where more than 7,800 people have died. While the virus continues to spread rapidly in some places, including Los Angeles County, there are signs that its rate of growth could be slowing in parts of the Bay Area.

On Friday, however, San Francisco officials announced that the city’s largest homeless shelter had experienced an outbreak, with 68 residents and two staff members testing positive for COVID-19. The shelter is now staffed with medical professionals treating the sick patients. The city has reported nearly 800 positive COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths.

Newsom repeated that the duration of the stay-at-home order depends on whether Californians continue to follow it and wear appropriate face coverings if they go out.

“That will be fundamentally determined on the basis of your individual behavior,” the governor said Friday. “No one can impact this more than you.”

Times staff writer Maura Dolan contributed to this report.