As COVID-19 Numbers Improve, Residents Can Protect the Most Vulnerable

Patient receives Covid-19 vaccine shot. By Steven Cornfield.

As Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline, residents can help protect those who are the most vulnerable to the virus. Residents can help reduce the high rate of transmission by being fully vaccinated, getting tested when exposed and before gatherings, masking indoors, and staying home while sick or recovering from COVID-19.

The Omicron variant continues to account for 100% of sequenced specimens and the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron remains the most predominant subvariant. In the week ending July 30, 88% of all sequenced specimens in LA County were BA.5. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC estimates that, across the country, as of the week ending August 13, the BA.5 subvariant accounted for 89% of specimens.

The relative proportions of other key sublineages Public Health is tracking changed only slightly, including BA.2.12.1 which has declined to 4%, and BA 4.6 which remains at just over 1.5%. To date, only three specimens of BA.2.75 have been detected, indicating no increased circulation of this sublineage here. This is welcome news since it indicates that the new strains currently circulating remain at a low level and do not appear poised to outcompete BA.5 in the very near future.

The 7-day average case count today is 3,577 cases, a 2% drop from 3,660 cases a week prior. The 7-day average test positivity rate over the past week also declined slightly to 10.1%, from 10.7% one week ago.

Over the last seven days, the average number of COVID-positive patients per day in LA County hospitals was 1,009, a decline of 10% from one week ago when the seven-day average number of COVID-positive patients per day was 1,118. The CDC reported LA County’s hospital admission rate at 8.9 weekly hospital admissions per 100,000 people, a decrease from the rate of 9.9 reported a week ago.

Deaths, which typically lag hospitalizations by several weeks, dropped slightly to an average of 13 deaths reported each day this past week, compared to an average of 14 daily reported deaths one week ago.

Getting vaccinated continues to provide protection from severe illness and hospitalization, especially for the most vulnerable residents living in communities with high rates of poverty. For the 30-day period ending Aug. 4, unvaccinated residents living in the highest poverty areas were 11 times more likely to be hospitalized than their vaccinated counterparts. And while 77% of LA County residents age five and older are fully vaccinated, only 35% of children 5-11 years old are fully vaccinated, and less than 7% of children under 5 have received at least one dose.

Residents can visit the Public Health website at VaccinateLACounty.com or VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to find locations, and schedules for clinics offering COVID-19 vaccines.

Details: 1-833-540-0473 between 8 a.m and 8:30 p.m., seven days a week; http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov