Incidence of COVID is expected to increase in schools in LA County.So far almost half are tied to sports

Outbreaks on school campuses have increased since Los Angeles County students returned for direct learning this month, and public health officials said Wednesday that unvaccinated and school sports students were at high risk. Said to.

Three weekly outbreaks were reported in the first few weeks of August, but last week it increased to eight outbreaks involving 72 students and three staff, “calm” early data. Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County, said.

“We expect the outbreak to increase as more schools reopen,” she said.

From August 15th to August 29th, a total of 5,207 student cases and 729 staff cases were reported, with the majority of cases on the LA Unified Campus being tested weekly.

Of the campus outbreaks so far this year, 47% have been related to sports teams.

According to Feller, the latest outbreaks reflect trends in October and November last year when the county plunged into a devastating winter surge.

In total, 849 schools reported one positive case, 193 LAUSD schools and 105 campuses in other districts reported two cases, 621 LAUSD schools and 94 other school sites more than three. I reported a case of.

Feller said that cases of three or more cases in one school are considered to occur only if the cases are related to each other.

Eligible unvaccinated children are four times more likely to be infected with COVID

Case rates have risen among children of all ages since early July, most rapidly among school-aged children aged 5 to 11 who are not vaccinated. Increased has.

During the two weeks from August 14th to August 21st, the case rate in this age group increased by 50%, 13% in children under 4 years old and 24% in children 12-17 years old. According to Feller, it continues to increase between the ages of 5 and 11 and decreases among other age groups.

Children over the age of 12 have the lowest case rate among vaccinated children and are four times more likely to be infected by unvaccinated children, according to the Director of Public Health. ..

There are 480 cases per unvaccinated teenager, 57 cases per 100,000 vaccinated children. Similarly, hospitalization is eight times higher for unvaccinated children.

However, while many other parts of the country report pediatric hospitalizations higher than at any other time in the pandemic, LA County has not seen a similar trend. Child admissions are now higher than in spring and early summer, but still far from admissions during the winter surge, Feller said.

“This pattern may reflect the fact that many adults are vaccinated and most people wear masks around people outside the family, including children.” She said. “Both of these steps can play an important role in protecting children.”

However, Feller said hospitalization is a late indicator and “the case rate of children in the coming weeks needs to be carefully monitored.”

Authorities are trying to step up immunization to better protect ineligible students

As of August 29, 48% of teens in LA County between the ages of 12 and 15 were fully vaccinated, and 60% had at least one vaccination. On the other hand, 57% of 16 and 17 years old were fully vaccinated and 68% were partially vaccinated.

“The most powerful strategy for keeping schools open is to keep these numbers within 100%,” Ferrer said.

Meanwhile, authorities estimate that 81% of public school district staff have received at least one dose, said Debra Duardo, the head of the LA County school.

Authorities are stepping up efforts to increase access to vaccines in schools and have opened 375 mobile vaccine clinics on campus. Duardo said more areas will open in the next two months in a pandemic-affected community.

3 school districts — LA Unified, Culver City Unified When Glendale Unified — While we require our staff to vaccinate and regularly inspect people with religious or medical exemptions, the other eight districts are considering such obligations.

So far, only Culver City Unified has made vaccination obligations for eligible students. Duardo said two districts in Cerritos, Palmdale and ABC Unified, were considering one, but LA County education officials later said these plans were abolished.

According to Duardo, 13 more districts are considering the obligations of students eligible to be vaccinated.

Of the 80 public school districts throughout the county, all but two have accepted federal funding to support extensive testing, 29 of which have already implemented such programs, Duardo said. I am.

Meanwhile, 55 individual charter schools and 20 charter management organizations have accepted test funding. In total, a total of 131 individual charter schools have conducted the tests, of which 125 charter schools are already operating the program.

“In so many ways, the most important task in front of us is to do everything we can to keep our children, teachers and staff safe at school,” Feller said. “I know that if we can work together and take care of each other, we are more likely to succeed.”