Los Angeles County is beyond the tough milestone of 25,000 COVID-19 deaths

Los Angeles County Public Health Authorities confirmed the deaths of 35 new COVID-19s on Thursday, August 19, raising the overall number of deaths from the virus beyond the tragic milestone of 25,000.

Resurrected deaths were only the latest indicator of the significant impact of the unpredictable and rapidly expanding delta variant.

“It’s amazing and very upset to think that 25,000 people have died in 18 months,” Barbara Ferrer said in an online briefing. “It (COVID-19) is one of the leading causes of death here in LA County. I think we’ll lose more people with heart disease and heart disease-related illnesses, but unfortunately COVID is this. I think it’s just around the corner as one of the leading causes of death in Los Angeles County for a year. It’s tragic.

By comparison, Feller said influenza causes 1,000 to 1,900 deaths annually in the county. At this point, the cumulative total for the entire pandemic is 25,002.

“The message is that no one should die from COVID anymore, so get people vaccinated as soon as possible,” Feller said. “This does not have to be the main cause of death.”

Since the pandemic began, the county has reported 3,239 new cases, for a total of 1,362,848, according to Feller. The county’s daily test positive rate was 3.7%, down from 4.5% last week, public health officials said.

Expect more increase

Feller said he expects new daily cases to remain high in the coming weeks due to the increasing number of tests required by many schools and businesses. She also said the county’s cumulative total of cases surged on Friday and health officials would add more than 10,000 new cases to the total pandemic total. This represents people who have been repeatedly tested positive more than 90 days after the initial infection.

She said such repetitive infections were not originally counted as part of the whole.

According to state statistics, there were 1,792 COVID patients in the county hospital on Thursday, a slight decrease from 1,790 on Tuesday. In addition, the number of people receiving treatment in the intensive care unit increased from 406 the day before to 414.

Although hospitalizations have been steadily increasing for more than a month, Ferrer said Thursday, from April to mid-August, about 25% of COVID-positive patients were actually hospitalized for reasons other than coronavirus. .. Those infections were only detected during regular hospitalization screening.

Feller said he expects new daily cases to remain high in the coming weeks due to the increasing number of tests required by many schools and businesses. She also said the county’s cumulative total of cases surged on Friday and health officials would add more than 10,000 new cases to the total pandemic total. This represents people who have been repeatedly tested positive more than 90 days after the initial infection.

She said such repetitive infections were not originally counted as part of the whole.

Waiting for booster

County residents are still waiting for contact from public health officials on a detailed plan to distribute booster shots to millions of people. As expected, federal health officials on Wednesday recommended that all vaccinated Americans take booster shots eight months after being fully vaccinated. This is equivalent to a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and may be an additional dose for those who have received a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services, these shots will be available from the week of September 20th.

Over the weekend, the county began offering a third dose of Pfizer and Modana’s COVID vaccine to people with a weakened immune system. Health officials urged people to consult their doctor to confirm the eligibility of the third shot, which should be given at least 28 days after the second dose. Public health officials in LA County urged residents to contact their health care providers to confirm their eligibility. For eligible residents, a third dose is available at the county site offering the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

On Wednesday, the CDC and HHS said the data “very clear” that protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection began to decline over time after the first dose of vaccination.

“Based on our latest assessment, current protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death is particularly high risk or will be among those vaccinated in the early stages of vaccination deployment. It could decline in the coming months, “the authorities said. “Therefore, we conclude that booster shots are needed to maximize vaccine protection and prolong its durability.”

Due to the continued epidemic of the highly infectious delta variant of COVID-19, county health officials will require all participants in an outdoor “mega event” where more than 10,000 people wear face masks late Monday. I urged you to issue a health order. This rule, which goes into effect on Thursday at 11:59 pm, affects sporting events such as the Dodgers, Rams, Chargers games, LAFC, and Galaxy soccer games.

Mask wearing requirements apply to all participants, regardless of vaccination status.

On Wednesday, the state issued a directive requiring all participants in more than 1,000 indoor “mega-events” to present evidence of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event.

School correspondence

Schools in the county continued to bring students back to campus directly — and authorities continued to respond to positive tests for students. Students exposed to peers who tested positive were sent home for quarantine and testing, usually based on the student’s vaccination status, according to the district’s individual policy.

Believing to be the first such obligation in California, the Culver City Unified School District will show evidence on Thursday that all eligible students must obtain the COVID-19 vaccine and enter campus. Announced that it demands that.

Despite the ever-increasing number of incidents in states and counties, state director Tony Thurmond said that current health protocols can keep children safe and that students can stay in school. I guaranteed my parents.

“We believe this is possible, with more vaccines, masking, and COVID tests showing the way in California,” he said in an interview. “Obviously, we will continue to monitor safety, but all the signs we have show that we can do this if we follow the proper protocol for those students. increase.”

Homeless hit hard

Earlier this week, county health officials said the number of homeless people infected with the virus had skyrocketed in the past month, reflecting trends across the community.

According to the Public Health Service, the county reported less than 30 homeless cases per week from late February to mid-July. But this week, the county identified 185 new cases, 71 of which actually occurred the previous week, but have just been confirmed to occur among the homeless.

Through the pandemic, 7,996 homeless people in the county were infected with the virus and 218 died.