Second case of COVID-19 mutant reported in LA County

Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles County reported 6,918 new cases of COVID-19 and 316 additional deaths on Saturday. Health officials also identified a second local case of COVID-19 mutant B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom. Four additional cases of multi-organ inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in pediatrics.

B.1.1.7 specimens submitted by the clinical facility were sequenced as part of regular monitoring by the county public health laboratory. According to the Los Angeles County Public Health Service, the first confirmed case of B.1.1.7 was recorded on January 16.

Authorities believe that B.1.1.7 and other variants have already spread throughout the county and are continuing to test samples. B.1.1.7 is considered to be more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19, but it is not necessarily fatal.

Four additional cases of MIS-C resulted in a total of 66 children in LA County, one of whom died. All 66 children of MIS-C in LA County were hospitalized and 44% of the children were treated in the ICU. Of the 66, 32% were under 5 years old, 38% were 5 to 11 years old, and 30% were 12 to 20 years old.

Latino / Latino children account for almost 74% of the reported cases, the ministry said.

MIS-C is an inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19, and symptoms include persistent fever and inflammation of parts of the body such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, and gastrointestinal organs.

The county’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate continued to decline, with 5,669 coronavirus patients admitted on Saturday, down from 5,855 the day before, to 26% of patients in the ICU.

Meanwhile, the county’s large COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium was unexpectedly closed on Saturday after protesters appeared at the entrance. Hundreds of cars were waiting in line, so public security officials were working to reopen the site in the afternoon.

Los Angeles Police Department Secretary Michel Moore tweeted, “We are working with public security partners to ensure that everyone with a reservation can get the vaccine today.”

Health officials said on Saturday that next week’s COVID-19 vaccination appointments are available in Los Angeles County for qualified individuals.

The Los Angeles County Public Health Service tweeted about residents of the county wishing to receive their first dose, “The schedule for February 1-7 is now available at http://VaccinateLACounty.com.” “Residents can book their first and second doses at the same time.

Authorities said a confirmation email had been sent for those requesting a second booking.

“If you haven’t received the email yet, it will be sent shortly,” the agency tweeted. “Please wait for a while.”

Currently, health care workers, caregiver residents, and people over the age of 65 are eligible for vaccination in the county.

Allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine is lagging behind in demand, and the county expects to receive approximately 188,000 doses next week. However, many of them are needed to administer the second shot to people who have already received the first dose of the double dose regimen.

As of the end of last week, the county had received a total of 853,650 doses. This week we received an estimated 143,900 doses, bringing the total to nearly 1 million.

Vaccination reservations can be booked online at vaccinatelacounty.com or by calling 833-530-0473 between 8 am and 8:30 pm.

Appointments on the county site were largely filled throughout the weekend.

A storm on Friday closed the county vaccination site at the El Sereno Recreation Center. According to the Public Health Service, all Friday appointments have been rescheduled on Tuesday.

The county’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Paul Simon, said the county opened about 25,000 vaccination reservation slots on Thursday and was full within two hours. He expressed his hope that the vaccine supply would improve and sympathized with the residents who were having difficulty booking.

According to Simon, recent figures show a total of 719,138 vaccines in the county, including nearly 595,000 initial doses of the double-dose regimen and more than 124,000 double doses. .. The total, though large, represents only a small percentage of the more than 2 million people currently eligible for vaccination in the county. Each person needs two doses, which is equivalent to more than 4 million doses.

Simon acknowledged recent concerns about the availability of a second dose as residents struggle to make appointments. Simon said those who took the first dose in a county or city-run location should be immediately given an appointment for a second dose in the same location.If you do not contact us, you will receive an email

Meanwhile, outdoor dining returned to the county on Friday after a two-month closure, but new restrictions require restaurants to turn off all TVs or remove all TVs from the customer’s seating area. had.

The county’s revised Health Officer Order also reinstates previous restrictions on outdoor dining. We require servers to wear masks and face shields, limit restaurants to 50% of patio capacity, limit tables to 6 people or less in the same household, and keep tables at least 8 feet away.

However, the order says, “Televisions and other screens used to broadcast the show must be removed from the area or turned off. This provision remains in effect until further notice.”

This provision is directly aimed at preventing the gathering of sports fans, especially as the Super Bowl approaches on February 7.

“Given that there are major sporting events, we really need to be careful when moving forward,” said County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis. “I’ve seen a lot of people screaming, screaming, and screaming together in the excitement of the game. I want to be able to see the impact when doing these restarts. When it gets better, you may be able to change some of the restrictions there.

“But now we have to facilitate these resumptions,” he said. “We hope that these cases will continue to decline and hospitalizations will continue to decline …. But it depends on everyone who does the right thing to prevent getting infected with the virus. Therefore, this At this point we want to make the way to this easier and see how our numbers continue to trend, so we make changes while watching how we continue. “

Davis spoke directly about the next Super Bowl, adding: “This should be a virtual gathering, just as many people celebrated their vacation with their families …. make this a virtual event …. play. Safe, party at home Please do not hold it. “

“Some restrictions have just been lifted in our county, but it’s still a very dangerous time in terms of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health, on Saturday. “We all want to continue our current business and safely resume in the future. Our case rate needs to continue to decline. One way to do this is Follow all public health recommendations and directives. The resumption of some sectors does not eliminate the risk of community infections. Instead, what and how each of us does. You have to choose very carefully about what. This virus is powerful and we are currently concerned about the variants and what they mean in our area. “

The new health order limits table seating on the restaurant patio to six people, “everyone sitting at the table must be a member of the same household.”

This order encourages pre-booked seat reservations, but is not required. The restaurant encourages customers to ask “if possible, call in advance to check outdoor seating / service capacity.” Restaurants also need to collect contact information from customers in case they need to be contacted in the future for contact tracing efforts.

The order also lifts the previous requirement that non-essential retailers be closed between 10 pm and 5 am.

On Monday, after the state’s stay-at-home order was lifted, the county immediately allowed resumption of personal service businesses such as hairdressers and nail salons, despite strict infection control requirements.

Earlier this week, restaurants were reopened for outdoor service in Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments.

Daily COVID-19 infections have been declining over the past two weeks, following a surge in which the county regularly reported well over 10,000 cases.

— City News Service