The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will align with the following new guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH):<\/p>\n
Infected people should wear a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days. People may now discontinue wearing a mask around others between days 6-10 if they have two sequential negative tests taken at least one day apart.<\/p>\n
The Department of Public Health will continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and to protect the county\u2019s most vulnerable residents by continuing to require robust COVID-19 case and cluster reporting by worksites, schools, and healthcare facilities to the Department of Public Health. The ongoing case and cluster reporting requirements are intended to help Public Health officials quickly identify sectors where there may be increased COVID-19 transmissions and take action to prevent unmitigated spread.<\/p>\n
Public Health will also continue enhanced protective measures in healthcare settings. Specifically, Public Health will continue to require:<\/p>\n
Monitoring LA County Early Alert Signals, including observing wastewater and new variant trends, and examining emergency department visit metrics will also continue in addition to COVID-19 surveillance in high-risk settings<\/p>\n
Public Health will continue to work to provide free vaccinations, boosters, testing and treatment, regardless of immigration or insurance status.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County remains in the CDC\u2019s Low COVID-19 Community Level for the eighth consecutive week. This includes a 7-day case rate of 57 new cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from the week prior.\u00a0 The 7-day total for new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people is currently 5.9, a small decrease from last week. And the 7-day average of the proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is now 3.7%, down from the week prior.<\/p>\n
Even with less stringent guidelines, Los Angeles County residents are strongly recommended to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, test before gatherings and get treatment and stay home when sick. The updated bivalent booster has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths when compared to individuals who had been vaccinated but had not received the updated booster. During the 30-day period ending February 21, people who were vaccinated against COVID-19, yet had not received the bivalent booster, were over 3 times less likely to be hospitalized compared to people who were unvaccinated and 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to those who had the updated booster as well.<\/p>\n
Find a location to get boosted at\u00a0VaccinateLACounty.com<\/a>,\u00a0Vacu Telehealth services to connect residents to COVID-19 medication can be reached at 833-540-0473, 8:00 a.m. \u2013 8:30 p.m.; 7 days a week.<\/p>\n \u201cTo those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, please accept my heartfelt sympathies during this difficult time. May their memories be a source of comfort and strength,\u201d said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. \u201cAs we move forward, I share with many others the goal of keeping each other safe and healthy by making sure that critical resources remain available. Because we now know so much more about COVID-19 \u2013 how it spreads, who is most vulnerable, and how we can prevent severe illness, which can also help decrease the risk for long COVID and help to avoid future health issues that may arise from a COVID infection \u2013 it remains important to work together to keep transmission low.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Public Health reported 11 additional deaths and 1,073 new positive cases. Today\u2019s case count includes one week\u2019s worth of cases (266) from Long Beach, as that jurisdiction has moved to weekly reporting. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 35,814. There are 604 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized.<\/p>\n 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\u202fhttp:\/\/www.publichealth. Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:<\/p>\n http:\/\/publichealth.lacounty. https:\/\/www.cdph.ca.gov\/\n
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