LA County reports the highest 3,248 new coronavirus cases since February as hospitalizations increase – Whittier Daily News

More than a year and a half after the pandemic began, Los Angeles County again shook nearly 1,000 coronavirus-related hospitalizations on Thursday, July 29. This shows how far the region is from a full-scale recovery.

The county also reported the maximum number of new daily COVID-19 cases since February, recording 3,248 new cases and 17 new deaths. Overall, the virus killed 24,675 people and infected 1,276,137 people.

Despite the recent nasty tolls, Thursday officials showed some signs of hope to turn the spikes over the weeks, with updated mask obligations and major vaccination efforts awkward. Pointed out early signs that it may be.

“There is still a high risk of widespread expansion within the county,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County, pointing out data showing 15.7 new cases per 100,000 people in the county. This is an increase from 12.9 new cases per 100,000 last week. These are numbers with a positive rate of 5.17%, which sets the county’s right smack to a “high transmission” threshold using state ranking criteria.

However, the number of cases last week increased by 80% compared to the previous week. However, this week’s volume was up only 17% compared to last week. And while it was still too early to determine if the reopened indoor masks in gear for nearly two weeks were working, Ferrer could be a sign that the statistics were flat. I expected it to have sex.

“This suggests that the rate of increase may be stable,” Feller said.

Still, Feller pointed to signs of “concern” that rising black deaths are beginning to appear in the data amid the recent surge in the virus, but it’s still time to get the big picture. It was too early.

On July 19, the mortality rate for black residents was 0.7 per 100,000. By July 17, it had risen to 1.2 per 100,000.

Mortality rates in other racial groups did not increase by July 17, but all experienced increased case numbers and hospitalization rates, with black and white residents having the largest increase in hospitalization. Was seen in.

Authorities are closely watching these hospitalizations, an indicator of past surges that actually begin to increase in proportion to cases two weeks after the surge in cases.

So far, with the recent surge, the pattern is not fully developed — good.

“Currently, the pattern is not reproducible during the proliferation of cases,” Feller said. “Cases increased by 740% from last month, but hospitalizations increased by 180%. Fewer cases are seriously ill.”

Feller pointed out that 0.21% of positive cases were hospitalized. This is far from almost 6% of the positive cases that were finally hospitalized during the huge winter surge.

Feller also said this week that some patients admitted with COVID-19 first came to the hospital because of an illness unrelated to COVID. They were found to be infected only during the initial hospitalization screening.

However, by Thursday, the number of hospitalizations with COVID-19 had reached 991. And given the current pattern, it seems certain that it will exceed 1,000 by the weekend.

From Wednesday to Thursday, an additional 73 people became ill enough to be assigned beds in LA County hospitals. An additional 14 people were admitted to the intensive care unit, bringing the number to 78.

In effect, the number of hospitalizations is:

– Doubled in just two weeks, up from 507 on July 16th.

– Quadruple within 5 weeks. The number on June 28 was 255. When,

– According to an analysis by the Southern California newsgroup, it’s about five times higher than the June 12 low of 212, three days before the state reopened.

The last tally exceeded 1,000 on May 10.

Driven by a relentless variant of the virus, called the delta variant, is now the predominant strain of the virus in the United States, about 50% more contagious than the alpha version.

It is predominantly widespread among unvaccinated individuals. Nearly 4 million county residents have not yet been vaccinated, even though nearly 5.2 million people over the age of 16 have been vaccinated in the county.

However, the promotion of vaccination and the mandatory mask, which is now revived two weeks ago, has sparked criticism from critics as an arbitrary violation of personal freedom by the government. Some people ask why you should wear a mask if the vaccine works.

Public health officials and other leaders have spoken about the more contagious nature of the Delta strain, the potential for more epidemics, and the increase in public mix since the drastic health order was eased on June 15. I am more and more worried. According to experts, the viral load is high and the attack on respiratory cells seems to be more aggressive.

“Slowing spreads is important because it reduces the chances of more variants,” Ferrer said.

In June, fully vaccinated people accounted for 20% of all cases diagnosed among residents of LA County. According to public health, unvaccinated cases accounted for 80% of all cases.

From July 1st to July 16th, 13,598 cases were diagnosed in LA County. 74% of all cases were unvaccinated and 26% were fully vaccinated. According to Feller, 92% of June hospitalizations were unvaccinated and 8% were vaccinated.

By July 25, 52% of the 10.3 million people in Los Angeles County had been vaccinated, Feller said, adding that the public health sector saw an increase in first-time vaccinations for the second straight week.

“Our sense of urgency to increase vaccination among the population remains high and we are grateful for these signs of increased vaccination,” Feller said. But she said young people still need to be vaccinated at a higher rate.