New COVID cases, positive rates continue to decline in LA County

Los Angeles (KABC)-While continuing to warn against the spread of COVID-19, the director of public health in Los Angeles County said the percentage of people tested positive for the virus had dropped to the lowest pandemic levels and the vaccine was released. , Proven by a dramatic reduction in cases among healthcare professionals.

“We are on the right track. We hope this will lead us on a journey of recovery, where more young people will return to school to study in the field. You can, “barbara Ferrer said at noon on Monday. briefing.

According to Feller, the county’s average number of new COVID cases per day fell below 1,000, “returning to the levels seen before the (winter) surge. These declines are real. Thank you for your choice and work. It’s everyone, individuals and businesses, that makes this possible. “

She said the average daily test positive rate for the last seven days had dropped to about 3%.

“This is actually the worst ever since we provided testing in the community,” Feller said. Yes, tests are down, but community submissions are down, and demand for tests is declining. -Few people have symptoms, feel sick, and feel less exposed. “

She said at the beginning of January, the average test positive was about 20%.

As a result of reduced demand, COVID testing is now available without reservation on all inspection sites operated by the county and the City of Los Angeles, but reservations can be made if desired.

Feller also noted a dramatic reduction in the number of cases and deaths of health care workers, the first people in the county to be vaccinated with the COVID vaccine. She said more than 1,800 cases were reported among healthcare professionals during the week of November 29, but only 69 cases were reported during the week of February 14.

Healthcare worker deaths fell from 21 per week on January 3 to 2 last week.

“Healthcare professionals also surged in cases from late fall to winter. Currently, the number of cases is declining overall and many of the health care workers are fully vaccinated, so the cases have been since the pandemic began. , It was the worst ever.

“… Not only is the number of healthcare professionals at the forefront of this pandemic declining, but it’s really reassuring to see this because there is only one graph. Our case. The first visible sign of the power of the vaccine to reduce

Feller is optimistic that the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine is currently approved for emergency use, as early as the two-dose Modana and Pfizer vaccines already given. He said he would arrive in the county later this week.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is distributed at many vaccination sites in the county, but it may be the preferred option because it requires only one vaccination, but you cannot choose which medicine to receive.

“All three vaccines are very powerful and in clinical trials they were 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death,” Feller said. “When you come to the scene, it is very important to accept the vaccine. All the vaccines we have and we can provide protect people from serious illnesses and deaths that require hospitalization. It is provided because it is

As the group of workers qualifying for the vaccine increased on Monday, Feller again urged people not to book vaccination if they did not belong to the qualified group. She said health officials “always receive reports” about people who play the state’s MyTurn computer system and make reservations regardless of qualification.

“If you have made a reservation but do not belong to the target group, please cancel the reservation. Do not remove or come from the target worker. Vaccination site, you should be back Because we need to point it. “

The county on Monday reported an additional 32 COVID-19 deaths with 987 new cases. Due to late reporting from the weekend, the number of Mondays tends to be artificially low.

The new deaths have increased the county-wide death toll to 21,467 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Health officials at Long Beach announced another 40 COVID cases on Monday, and Pasadena announced 19 cases. Combined with the county’s new cases, the county-wide total has increased to 1,192,954 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to state statistics, which is usually one day ahead of the county number, as of Monday there were 1,502 COVID-19 patients in LA County hospitals, with more than 8,000 patients in early January. It is well below the peak. 475 people were being treated in the COVID intensive care unit.

Despite the continuing decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, health officials said the number of cases surged again as people became lazy, held large rallies and avoided wearing masks. He continued to warn against the spread of the virus, saying it could.

Despite the highest pandemic case rates, the risk can be particularly high in low-income areas of the county with the lowest percentage of vaccinated population. According to Feller, the average vaccination rate for the 10 communities with the highest case rates in the county is about 10%, and the vaccination rate for the 10 communities with the lowest case rates is 22%.

“For this reason, new partnerships and strategies for vaccination in the most devastated communities need to be as accessible and barrier-free as possible,” Feller said.

City News Service contributed to this report.