The Los Angeles Post

With COVID-19 Transmission Increasing, Those at Higher Risk Should Adopt Simple Strategies to Reduce Exposure, Prevent Severe Illness

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With COVID-19 transmissions and hospitalizations on the rise in Los Angeles County, residents at higher risk should consider employing simple strategies to reduce their exposures and prevent severe illness.  Individuals who are older, those with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic health conditions continue to experience higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.

To reduce risks, especially as transmission of the virus is increasing, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) asks those more vulnerable to take precautions to reduce potential exposures, identify COVID infections early, and consult with a health care provider when infected to access appropriate therapeutics. Protective measures include wearing a well-fitting, high filtration mask when traveling via public transit, when in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor spaces, and when at health care facilities.

Those that provide services to individuals at higher risk of severe illness from COVID are also asked to take sensible steps to prevent transmission of COVID-19; this includes staying home and away from others if sick, testing before gathering indoors, and wearing a mask if providing patient care.

Even as hospitalizations from COVID-19 remain at near-record lows, older adults continue to be hospitalized at significantly higher rates than any other age group in Los Angeles County. Public Health data shows that people 80 years old and older were more than five times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than people ages 50-79, during the 30-day period ending Aug. 5. Adults ages 50 to 79 were four times as likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than people 30-49 years old during the same 30-day period.

Some of the people at highest risk of complications from COVID-19 live in skilled nursing facilities, where there has been an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks in recent weeks. Public Health opened 59 new outbreak investigations at skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County during the 30-day period ending Aug. 16, a significant increase from the 34 outbreak investigations opened during the previous 30 days.

One way to reduce outbreaks at skilled nursing facilities is to make sure residents, staff and visitors are up to date on their vaccinations. As of Aug. 15, 76 percent of all skilled nursing facility residents and half of all staff are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. Vaccines are a safe, highly effective and relatively simple to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

As fall approaches, all residents are encouraged to ask their health care provider what vaccines they should get to protect against COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are slated to consider authorizing a new COVID-19 vaccine next month. The yearly flu vaccine also is recommended for everyone 6 months old and older. Additionally, a new RSV vaccine has been approved for people ages 60 and older and other new RSV protections are now available for infants and young children.

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should talk to their health care provider about treatment options, such as Paxlovid, as soon as possible. Treatment must begin within five days of the onset of symptoms. To access free telehealth services for treatment, contact the Public Health Call Center, seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., at 1-833-540-0473.

Los Angeles County remains in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Low Hospital Admission Level with 4.1 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, reported on Aug. 14 for the seven-day period ending Aug. 5.

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

8/16/2023

8/9/2023

8/2/2023

7/26/2023

Daily average cases

384

333

264

206

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

22%

19%

12%

16%

Daily average of the percent of Emergency Department (ED) encounters classified as coronavirus-related

3.9%

3.5%

3.2%

2.7%

Daily average number of COVID-positive hospitalizations

330

293

245

228

Daily average deaths

1.0

1.7

0.7

2.6

Percent of all deaths due to COVID-19

0.9%

1.3%

0.8%

1.1%

All daily averages are 7-day averages. Data for past weeks are subject to change in future reports. Time periods covered by each metric: cases = week ending each Saturday; wastewater = week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag; ED data = week ending each Sunday; hospitalizations = week ending each Saturday; deaths = week ending each Monday, with a three-week lag; death percentage = week ending Monday, with a one-week lag. Hospitalization counts do not include Prospect Hospitals, which on average make up 2% of hospitalizations in LA County.

Case data is presented by episode date, an approximation of the date the illness began, and death data is presented by date of death. This is a change from how case and death data were presented prior to July 26, 2023, which was by date of report. Daily average cases and deaths do not include Long Beach and Pasadena.

 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 8/14/2023

 

Total Cases

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

3,772,815

Deaths (includes LB and Pas)

36,612

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

– 0 to 4

113,325

– 5 to 11

283,680

– 12 to 17

278,395

– 18 to 29

762,461

– 30 to 49

1,142,188

– 50 to 64

620,509

– 65 to 79

269,207

–  over 80

95,488

–  Under Investigation

2,569

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

–  Female

1,842,431

–  Male

1,634,331

–  Other

1,858

–  Under Investigation

89,202

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

6,762

–  Asian

266,421

–  Black

188,404

–  Hispanic/Latino

1,521,984

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

17,854

–  White

496,717

–  Other

410,686

–  Under Investigation

658,994

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

–  Hospitalized (Ever)

182,341

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

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

79

–  Asian

4,541

–  Black

3,260

–  Hispanic/Latino

16,938

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

116

–  White

9,268

–  Other

429

–  Under Investigation

92