Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 31, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses
Published on: November 10, 2023
COVID-19 Mortality Rates in Los Angeles County Among People Experiencing Homelessness, March 2020-February 2021
Alicia H Chang1, Jennifer J Kwon1, Chelsea L Shover2
1People Experiencing Homelessness COVID-19 Response Team, Acute Communicable Disease Control Program, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Objective:
Understanding COVID-19-related mortality among the large population of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Los Angeles County (LA County) may inform public health policies to protect this vulnerable group. We investigated the impact of COVID-19 on PEH compared with the general population in LA County.
Methods:
We calculated crude COVID-19 mortality rates per 100 000 population and mortality rates adjusted for age, race, and sex/gender among PEH and compared them with the general population in LA County from March 1, 2020, through February 28, 2021.
Results:
Among adults aged ≥18 years, the crude mortality rate per 100 000 population among PEH was 20% higher than among the general LA County population (348.7 vs 287.6). After adjusting for age, the mortality rate among PEH was 570.7 per 100 000 population. PEH had nearly twice the risk of dying from COVID-19 as people in the general LA County population; PEH aged 18-29 years had almost 8 times the risk of dying compared with their peers in the general LA County population. PEH had a higher risk of mortality than the general population after adjusting for race (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.6) and sex/gender (SMR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5).
Conclusions:
A higher risk of COVID-19-related death among PEH compared with the general population indicates the need for public health policies and interventions to protect this vulnerable group.
More Related Videos
07:13Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs
Published on: April 9, 2021
08:41Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2
Published on: November 5, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Hazard Rate
Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence indicates the proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or health...
Actuarial Approach
Consider the example of a high-risk surgical procedure with significant early-stage mortality. A two-year clinical study is conducted,...
Acute Respiratory Failure-II
The underlying physiological abnormalities that contribute to hypoxemic respiratory failure include:
Acute Respiratory Failure-III
COPD: Pathogenesis and Clinical Features
The primary cause for the onset of COPD is cigarette smoking and exposure to air pollution. These hazardous factors initiate a chain reaction within the lungs, resulting in chronic inflammation, damage to the airways, and a...