The Los Angeles Post

Public Health Reports Small Signs of Increasing COVID-19 Transmission; Recommends Common-Sense Precautions

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With small increases in the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) reminds residents to consider taking common-sense precautions, especially for people at highest risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Public Health data shows increases in reported COVID-19 cases, virus concentrations in wastewater and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests, possibly the result of high levels of exposure during Fourth of July festivities, summer travel, and the unusually high temperatures that are keeping people indoors more often.

For the past three summers, Los Angeles County has experienced a summer COVID-19 surge.  Beginning in mid-July 2021, cases and hospitalizations increased relatively sharply. In contrast, in 2022, cases and hospitalizations had already begun to rise by May 1, however the increase was more gradual.

This week, Public Health reports 2,034 new COVID-19 cases, a 32 percent increase from the 1,544 cases reported last week. While helpful to indicate larger trends, cases are an undercount of the true number of infections due to the large number of at-home COVID test results that are not reported to Public Health.

Wastewater concentrations of SARS CoV-2, the virus that results in a COVID-19 infection, are at 10 percent of the most recent winter peak for the week ending July 8, a slight increase from the 8 percent that was recorded for each of the previous three weeks.  The test positivity rate, which does not include home tests, increased to 7.5 percent as of July 15, up from 5.1 percent one month earlier.

This month, Public Health also is reporting more new outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities, where residents are more susceptible to severe illness and death from COVID-19. For the week ending July 18, Public Health opened 11 outbreak investigations, similar to the 12 outbreak investigations opened the week before. By comparison, one month ago, for the week ending June 20, four new outbreaks were opened.

While COVID-19 transmission patterns continue to evolve, it is important that county residents take simple precautions to reduce transmission. This includes testing if exposed to COVID-19 or if experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness, including sore throat, cough or fever. Information about testing, including where to get free tests, is available at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDtests.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they must isolate for at least five full days to prevent inadvertently transmitting the virus to others. Isolation may end during days 6-10 if a person goes more than 24 hours without a fever, without the use of fever reducing medications, and their symptoms are not worsening; a negative COVID-19 test is strongly recommended.  When leaving isolation, it is recommended to mask through day 10.

Treatments for COVID-19 continue to be widely available in Los Angeles County. However, these medications are only effective if taken within five days of symptom onset. To get treatment, speak to a provider or contact the Public Health Call Center at 1-833-540-0473. Assistance is available seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

“I offer my condolences to those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19. I wish you peace and strength during this difficult time,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “Los Angeles County could be facing a small bump in cases in the coming weeks, which is not entirely unexpected looking at what is happening in other parts of the world, including cases rising in Japan. While it is too early to say anything definitively, the best course is to take advantage of the tools and knowledge we have gained to minimize the spread, especially for those who are most vulnerable. I am happy to see that our hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low, and my hope is that with the protection of vaccines, the use of therapeutics, and our acquired immunity, that even if transmission does rise, we will not see the same increases in hospitalizations and deaths that we have in the past.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has replaced COVID-19 Community Levels with Hospital Admission Levels, which can help individuals and communities decide which prevention actions they can take based on the most recent information. Los Angeles County is in the Low Hospital Admission Level with 2.6 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, reported on July 17 for the seven-day period ending July 8.

Public Health reports COVID-19 data weekly. The following table shows case, wastewater, emergency department, hospitalization, and death data in Los Angeles County over the past four weeks.

Metric

Date of Weekly Report

7/19/2023

7/12/2023

7/5/2023

6/28/2023

Weekly cases reported1,2

2,034

1,544

1,741

1,794

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentration as a percentage of the Winter 2022-2023 peak concentration value3

10%

8%

8%

8%

7-day average of the percent of Emergency Department (ED) encounters classified as coronavirus-related3,4

2.5%

2.4%

2.0%

2.4%

7-day average number of COVID-positive hospitalizations3,4

221

213

214

233

Weekly deaths reported2

14

13

29

28

1) Case counts are an underrepresentation of the true number of infections, largely due to home tests which are not reported to DPH. Despite this, the trend in reported case counts from week to week is still an indicator of overall trends in transmission.

2) Weekly case and death counts represent the number of cases and deaths reported for the week ending each Tuesday. The date a case/death is reported by DPH is not the same as the date of testing or death. Starting the week of 7/5/23, weekly reported case counts do not include Long Beach and Pasadena. Starting the week of 7/5/23, weekly reported death counts do not include Long Beach.

3) Time periods covered by each metric: wastewater = week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag; ED data = week ending each Sunday; hospitalizations = week ending each Saturday.

4) Data for past weeks is subject to change in future reports.

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/COVIDdata including:

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

  • Los Angeles County Department of Public Health:

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/

Cases through 12:00pm 7/17/2023

 

Total Cases

Laboratory Confirmed Cases (includes LB and Pas through 6/27/23; excludes LB and Pas after 6/27/23)

3,761,107

Deaths (includes LB and Pas)

36,564

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

– 0 to 4

112,537

– 5 to 11

283,428

– 12 to 17

278,117

– 18 to 29

760,899

– 30 to 49

1,139,032

– 50 to 64

618,053

– 65 to 79

267,137

–  over 80

94,348

–  Under Investigation

2,563

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

–  Female

1,835,749

–  Male

1,629,375

–  Other

1,851

–  Under Investigation

89,139

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

6,737

–  Asian

265,307

–  Black

187,266

–  Hispanic/Latino

1,518,071

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

17,795

–  White

494,434

–  Other

409,067

–  Under Investigation

657,437

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

–  Hospitalized (Ever)

179,723

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

80

–  Asian

4,531

–  Black

3,257

–  Hispanic/Latino

16,928

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

117

–  White

9,260

–  Other

425

–  Under Investigation

90