California virus cases increase as delta variants spread

Los Angeles-California reopened widely just two weeks ago and has been particularly contagious ever since Coronavirus The variant spread among unvaccinated people. health Authorities are on the edge and have already urged Los Angeles County to urge everyone to resume wearing masks internally.

The country’s most populous state reports an average of nearly 1,000 additional cases each day, an increase of about 17% over the last 14 days. Authorities expected it to increase when corporate capacity restrictions were lifted and most mask restrictions and social distance requirements for vaccinated people were lifted.

However, public health officials expressed concern this week that more contagious delta variants will spread among unvaccinated individuals, who make up the majority of new infections. In LA County, where about a quarter of the state’s 40 million people live, vaccinated residents wear face covers indoors after detecting about half of all cases with delta mutations. Recommended to start on Monday.

“The new wrinkle of this is actually this new variant. Kirsten Bibbins Domingo, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said:” It just opened two weeks ago and it’s all Was Hanky ​​Dolly. “

Governor Gavin Newsom lifted a series of pandemic-related restrictions on June 15 after the final push to vaccinate more people. Everyone over the age of 12 is eligible for injections, 59% of the population is fully vaccinated and another 10% are first dosed.

In Contra Costa County, where 72% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, authorities have recently begun publishing virus case rates by vaccination status. Due to the high coverage of the county, the number of new coronavirus cases is generally low, but unvaccinated residents remain at risk, said county health officer Dr. Chris Farnitano. ..

For example, the 7-day average of new virus cases per 100,000 people in the county was 7.0 for recently unvaccinated and 0.4 for vaccinated.

“The total number does not seem to be so worrisome, but we know that this unvaccinated population is still at very high risk. It can be misunderstood that COVID is still under control. It is still spreading very rapidly among unvaccinated people, “Farnitano said.

In Los Angeles, a mix of masked and unmasked people roamed Echo Park Lake on Wednesday. Waiting for a nearby bus, G. Williams wore a black cloth mask over a blue cloth mask. I hope she will do this for years to come.

The 69-year-old has not been vaccinated, saying she is still concerned about possible long-term side effects. She supported the county’s latest recommendations and said she did not understand why people did not wear masks to protect others.

“For me, my mask is just as important as any other clothing,” she said.

At Raven Things Collected, a LA gift shop that sells crystals, tarot cards, and jewelery, everyone is away from the counter with a full-filled table.

Employee Jesenia Lego said she feels protected because she is vaccinated and away from customers. When coming in anyway, she said most people wore masks, adding those who rarely asked if they should.

“They don’t care anymore,” said 23-year-old Lego, who wore a green cloth mask.

Immunization rates vary widely across California. According to state data, San Francisco zip codes report that more than 95% of eligible individuals are fully vaccinated, compared to 37% in rural Modoc County.

Health officials said areas with low vaccination rates were particularly at risk as India’s first reported delta variant spreads across the United States. This variant, which accounts for one-fifth of new infections in the United States, was found in 15% of specimens sequenced in California in June, up from 5% in May.

In Orange County, this variant accounts for 45% of the cases sequenced in the last week, said Dr. Regina Chincio Kwon, Deputy Health Officer of the county. A contact tracer reaching out to people infected with the virus found that 95% were unvaccinated and a small number of vaccinated people reported mild symptoms and were not hospitalized. Said.

“It’s only a matter of time before we are exposed again, as these highly contagious strains are beginning to be seen,” she said. “The question is how serious the disease will be when you are actually infected with COVID.”

Public health officials said they hoped that measures such as those taken by Contra Costa County would help encourage more people to fire.

Andrew Neumer, a professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, said: “COVID looks for unvaccinated populations. The virus has a kind of rebound method until it finds a potentially infected host, and they become unvaccinated people.”

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A taxi reported by Orange County, California.