No additional restrictions are required, but health officials encourage mask use as graduation season begins.
By Lisa Jacobs | Long Beach Press-Telegram | MAY 20, 2022 | Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz
After residents enjoyed weeks of relaxed masking and the return of large in-person events such as music festivals, Los Angeles County on Thursday, May 19, moved from a “low” community transmission level to a “medium” level as defined by federal public health authorities.
The move, while not unexpected under the criteria set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was accompanied by ramped up urging from public health officials to wear masks indoors and to heed calls to get vaccinated.
The L.A. county coronavirus case rate has increased by 15% over the last week to 202 cases per 100,000 people, crossing the 200-mark threshold set by the CDC on one metric for moving the county into the medium level. The CDC measures three metrics every seven days and updates information on Thursdays.
The rise in case rates is an early warning sign that a strain on the health care system could be around the corner, according to data from the CDC’s website. The other two metrics for determining transmission levels are new COVID-19 hospital admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
LA County’s new hospital admissions rate is only at 3.4 per 100,000 and its percent of staffed inpatient beds is 1.7, keeping those metrics in the “low” category.
The shift to medium does not add restrictions across the county, said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, but it does increase caution in sectors such as skilled nursing facilities, schools and large workplace facilities.
Over the last week, there were concerning coronavirus increases in nursing homes where outbreaks doubled from 7 to 14, at worksite cluster which increased six-fold and classroom outbreaks increasing from 11 to 17, Ferrer said.
Classroom coronavirus outbreaks more than tripled from a month ago, said Ferrer, adding to the worry over end-of-year commencement celebrations.
Ferrer, in a press briefing Thursday, encouraged residents to use proven methods such as masking and staying up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters to ensure LA County does not move to the high level of transmission.
“We’re not suggesting that people avoid gatherings,” said Ferrer. “But we are suggesting people gather with precautions.”
Those safeguards, said Ferrer, include informing guests before graduation parties they should test before attending and recommending guests wear masks indoors.
“We know that masks work and our hope is that with the encouragement we’ve providing that people will go back to putting those masks on,” Ferrer said.
Holly J. Mitchell, LA County Board of Supervisor Chair, said she was particularly concerned about the rise in classroom outbreaks. She, too, encouraged residents to wear masks at public events such as graduation ceremonies and parties as well as during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend holiday.
“We do have the opportunity to gather this year,” said Mitchell, “but we want to keep each other safe during this transmission event.”
The best way, said Mitchell, to ease transmission of the virus, is to:
- Continue to mask indoors
- Test if you are exposed
- Test if you plan to travel
- Test upon start of any symptoms
- Test after being in a large crowd
- Keep up with vaccinations and boosters.
In its shift in CDC status, L.A. County joins just 18% of counties across the U.S. of which 14% are in medium and 4% are in high transmission level status. High transmission areas, predominantly in the northeast, have been fueled by the highly contagious Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, which Ferrer said has been wreaking havoc on the East Coast.
Omicron is 20 to 30% more transmissible than previous coronavirus strains, said Ferrer. And, each time it mutates, it gets stronger.
Becoming increasingly more common in L.A. County, said Ferrer, is the BA.2.12.1 variant, with a 27% positivity sequence in the period ending April 30.
“There’s little doubt that getting vax and booster offers the best protection against these subvariants,” Ferrer said.
Cities around the county have been echoing that message.
In Pasadena, which operates its own public health department, the city’s seven-day weekly average of coronavirus case counts has increased more than 150%, rising from 18.4 on April 19, to 47.1 on Thursday.
The average is significantly lower than that city’s January’s peak of more than 400 cases per week, however, city leaders remain concerned about Pasadena’s vulnerable populations.
Countywide, 4,725 new COVID infections were reported on Thursday. That brought the overall total from the start of the pandemic to 2,926,848. The county saw nine more virus-related deaths, bringing the cumulative local death toll to 32,064.
On Thursday, 379 COVID-positive patients were in county hospitals. That was an increased from 363 on Wednesday. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care was 53, down from 55 a day earlier.
In California, only 4 of 58 counties are in the “medium” level: Humboldt, Sonoma, Santa Clara and Plumas.
L.A. County has already implemented the CDC’s recommendations for areas in the medium category — such as mask-wearing on public transit, wide availability of vaccinations and guidance for improving ventilation in indoor settings. And, said Ferrer, she expected to extend the mask mandate on public transit which expires in a few days.
“We need to do everything we can to stay out of high,” Ferrer said.
