LA County – NBC Los Angeles Strengthens Efforts to Fight Pandemics and New Rules at Large Events

As COVID cases and hospitalizations increase in Los Angeles County and the threat of Omicron variants increases, health officials on Thursday will fight the pandemic, including new rules for attending large-scale events. Announced enhanced efforts.

Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer will attend indoor or outdoor mega-events in the county starting Friday and within one or two days (in the case of antigen testing) for those who are unable to provide evidence of complete vaccination. He said he needed to submit proof that the COVID test was negative. Of the event (for PCR test).

Children under the age of 2 are exempt from the rules for indoor events and children under the age of 5 are exempt from the rules for outdoor events. This is a change from the previous health order that required proof of a negative test within 72 hours.

The county defines a mega event as an indoor rally for more than 1,000 people or an outdoor event for more than 10,000 people.

Meanwhile, Feller said 30 cases of Omicron were detected in Los Angeles County, with 12 new cases confirmed Thursday. Twenty-four of the thirty were fully vaccinated, and four of them received boosters.

Feller added that there is no evidence to suggest that the new variant causes more serious symptoms than the previous version, but it is more contagious than the other variants.

According to a University of Hong Kong study published Wednesday, Omicron infects people about 70 times faster than the currently predominant Delta mutant and the original COVID-19 strain, but the severity of the disease may be much lower. there is.

“Based on the data collected so far, Omicron will be more widely distributed in Los Angeles County in the very near future, with more cases occurring in a short period of time, especially given the increased rally on winter travel. It’s expected. “‘Feller said.

“Unvaccinated people still seem to be at the highest risk, but all the evidence so far shows that even fully vaccinated people are especially at high risk of getting infected or infecting others. is showing.”

According to Feller, the COVID vaccine is somewhat effective against Omicron, but not against the delta type. According to the Los Angeles County Public Health Service, currently available vaccines are 30% to 40% effective against Omicron and 70% to 75% effective with booster shots.

The vaccine was approximately 70% effective against delta variants prior to the availability of boosters.

The County Health Department also announced 2,275 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths associated with the virus. Feller said it was the first time Thursday had exceeded 2,000 in a day.

In addition, according to the latest state statistics, the number of coronavirus cases in county hospitals increased by two on Thursday, from 770 to 772. Of those patients, 182 were in the intensive care unit. It increased from 179 on Wednesday.

The number of hospitalizations has increased by about 100 from a week ago and by about 200 from late November.

The daily test positive rate increased from 1.2% to 1.7%. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the county has now recorded 1,553,366 cases and 27,388 deaths.

In addition to changing the rules of the mega event, Feller also announced a series of other steps the county is taking to combat the latest surge.

• Weekly tests for skilled nursing facility residents and staff.
• SNF visitors need a negative test within 72 hours.
• Added outreach efforts to encourage safety and vaccines, including city hall and social media efforts.
• Improved testing ability and vaccinated outreach for homeless people.

The county is also changing the quarantine order of health officers to emphasize the need for cases to identify close contacts during contact tracing in order to better manage outbreaks.

The county’s travel guidance continues to recommend that anyone traveling domestically or internationally to Los Angeles County be tested for COVID within 3-5 days of arrival to meet the state’s new travel recommendations.

Authorities continue to encourage people to vaccinate with COVID-19, pointing out data supporting the effectiveness of the vaccine to prevent serious illness and death.

As of December 11, 88,338 (or 1.4%) of the 6,183,462 people in Los Angeles County who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were COVID positive and 21,891 were hospitalized (.05%). , 552 people (.009%) died. From a virus.

Of the 10.3 million inhabitants of the county, 66% are fully vaccinated and 74% are vaccinated once.

The Department of Health also reminds residents that fully vaccinated people can still catch and spread the coronavirus, and all to wear masks around others, regardless of vaccination status. I urged the person.

Also on Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory board unanimously approved the recommendation of the Pfizer and Moderna-created mRNA vaccines in preference to the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine. ..

Dr. Isaac See of the CDC said health officials confirmed 54 cases of blood clots, 9 of which were fatal and 2 more suspected to be associated with blood clotting problems.

The CDC temporarily suspended approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April while the first report of a blood clot was being investigated, at which point it determined that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.

Dr. Rochelle Wallensky, Director of the CDC, is expected to decide on Friday whether to accept the panel’s recommendations.