The Los Angeles Post

With Significant Increases in Transmission and Outbreaks at High-Risk Settings, Getting Boosted Should be a High Priority for Residents and Workers

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12,378 New Positive Cases and 14 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County Since Saturday

With increases across multiple COVID metrics, including cases, hospitalizations, outbreaks in high-risk settings, and the test positivity rate, layering in more protections is needed to reduce the risk of transmission and severe illness.  Evidence continues to show that those fully vaccinated and recently boosted have increased protection that is important during times of high transmission.

Over the past seven days, there were 22 new outbreaks at skilled nursing facilities, which elevated the level of concern at these facilities to high. Nursing facilities are now required to implement additional safety measures including: universal masking of all staff, visitors, and residents; N95 respirators for all staff at all times in a facility; twice weekly screening testing of staff, and weekly testing of residents; testing of all visitors; and, pausing communal dining and non-essential group activities.  Efforts continue to ensure that staff and residents are up-to-date on their vaccinations.

There are also increases in outbreaks among people experiencing homelessness, with 13 new outbreaks reported for the week ending May 22. The rise in outbreaks among people experiencing homelessness has led to increased testing and referrals to quarantine and isolation sites. Mobile teams are focused on ensuring easy access to vaccinations and boosters for those that are not housed.

Omicron, which is known to be 20-30% more easily transmitted than previous strains, accounted for 100% of all positive cases for sequenced specimens collected in the week ending April 30. While the BA.2 Omicron variant remains the predominant variant in LA County, BA.2.12.1, is becoming more common in LA County, which is of concern since it is more transmissible that BA.2. The BA.2.12.1 sub-lineage accounted for 27% of positive sequenced specimens for the period ending April 30, compared to 3% about one month before. This rate of increase is similar to what is seen nationally, where for the week ending May 14, BA.2.12.1 accounted for 48% of positive sequences specimens vs. 19% about one month before. For the week ending April 30, the BA.2.3 and its sub-lineages accounted for 12% of positive sequenced specimens.

With these highly infectious subvariants and sub-lineages in circulation, cases continue to increase in LA County. The average number of daily new cases reported over the last seven days increased to 3,843 compared to the 1,436 reported one month ago, an increase of 168%.

The seven-day average test positivity rate also increased when compared to one month ago. The rate today is 3%, double from what it was one month ago on April 23 when the seven-day average test positivity rate was 1.5%.

The higher case numbers have translated to an increased number of people getting severely ill and needing to be hospitalized. Over the last seven days, the average number of COVID-positive patients per day in LA County hospitals was 378, an increase of 72% from one month ago when the average number of COVID-positive patients per day was 220.

Deaths, which typically lag hospitalizations by several weeks, remain stable at an average of seven deaths reported per day this past week.

Vaccines continue to provide the best defense against COVID and there is ample evidence supporting the need for all vaccinated individuals to get a booster dose 5 months after completing their initial series to maintain maximum protection. Currently, there are about 2.9 million booster-dose eligible residents age 12 and older not benefiting from the extra protection of a booster dose. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved booster doses for children ages 5-11. With cases increasing by 264% this past month among children ages 5-11 (a higher rate of increase than the corresponding 116% increase among young adults ages 18-49), the 130,000 children ages 5-11 immediately eligible for the booster are encouraged to take advantage of the additional protection offered by the 3rd dose of the pediatric Pfizer vaccine.

There are more than 2,000 sites in LA County where residents can get boosters, including pharmacies, Public Health pods, mobile and school vaccination clinics, and more. Residents can find vaccination sites near their home or work by visiting VaccinateLACounty.com or by calling the Public Health Call Center at (833) 540-0473 (open 7 days a week, 8:00 am – 8:30 pm).

“We are thinking of everyone across our communities who has lost a loved one or friend to COVID-19, and we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “The numbers in LA County are increasing across nearly all of our metrics reflecting the reality of the dominance of highly infectious mutated variants.  To protect those who are most vulnerable, we need to take care of each other by creating barriers to the transmission of the virus; this happens when we are up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters, wear a mask when indoors and around others, and get tested to know our status if we feel sick, have been exposed, or are gathering indoors.  None of this is particularly hard and these actions protect the elderly, those with underlying health conditions, and those with many potential exposures at their worksites or in the community.”

Today, Public Health reported 14 additional deaths and 5,152 new positive cases Saturday, 4,750 new cases Sunday, and 2,476 new cases today. The number of cases and deaths are likely to reflect reporting delays over the weekend. Of the 14 new deaths reported today, four were between the ages of 50-64, six were between the ages of 65-79, and four were aged 80 years or older. Of the 14 newly reported deaths, all had underlying health conditions.  To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 32,086.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,942,149 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 3.0%.

There are 391 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,974,373 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

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Total Cases

Laboratory Confirmed Cases

2,942,149

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

2,784,808

— Long Beach

127,749

— Pasadena

29,592

Deaths

32,086

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

30,404

— Long Beach

1,268

— Pasadena

414

Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

– 0 to 4

85503

– 5 to 11

247445

– 12 to 17

242073

– 18 to 29

620121

– 30 to 49

889185

– 50 to 64

460333

– 65 to 79

179825

–  over 80

58259

–  Under Investigation

2064

Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  Female

1418446

–  Male

1288613

–  Other

1235

–  Under Investigation

76514

Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

5116

–  Asian

178063

–  Black

140111

–  Hispanic/Latino

1254105

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

14106

–  White

367630

–  Other

308895

–  Under Investigation

516782

Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  Hospitalized (Ever)***

138,598

Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

73

–  Asian

3797

–  Black

2816

–  Hispanic/Latino

15619

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

112

–  White

7589

–  Other

308

–  Under Investigation

90