Los Angeles Covid Test Positivity Rising Rapidly; Only time will tell if hospitalizations are appropriate

On Friday, Los Angeles County announced 1,355 new COVID cases, continuing the uptrend that started about a week ago as the more contagious BA.2 subvariant continues to spread.

Last week, the 7-day average number of new cases in the country was 878. According to yesterday’s data, more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 were seen on average per day in the country.

While the 7-day average of people testing positive for the virus is greater than the daily increase in cases, the data point is considered a more accurate indicator of spread because it predicts the ups and downs as well as being average. . Trial Drops Numbers. The figure held steady below 1%, but rose to 1.7% on Thursday and reached 2.4% on Friday. The rate remains low overall, but is twice as high as a week ago and nearly three times higher than it was two weeks ago. That’s a huge increase for a number that averages 7 days.

The rising number of cases has yet to translate into a spike in hospitalizations and deaths, and optimists continue to see the region trying to get back on track after Omicron’s winter spell. The number of Covid positive patients hospitalized in the Los Angeles area really took a dip today and that was the trend.

The number of patients who tested positive last Friday was 275. Today that number is 228. That’s a 17% drop in a week. Of these patients, 31 were treated in intensive care, out of 32 on Thursday. 13 more deaths from the virus were reported on Friday.

2 subtype, a more contagious branch of the Omicron variant that has caused an increase in winter cases, is now the dominant strain of the virus in the country, according to public health officials. Based on the latest data, it accounts for 67% of new infections, but this data is over two weeks old, so this option is likely to account for a much higher percentage of new cases.

It has been suggested that BA.2, although more contagious, is less viral. In some regions, the increase in BA.2-related cases was not followed by an increase in hospitalizations and mortality. This difference from the winter Omicron wave is cause for cautious optimism. However, it is too early to call BA.2 perfectly.

During the pandemic, the jump in hospitalization was typically followed by an increase in daily cases for about 2 weeks. Part of the increased ability to infect humans with BA.2 is thought to be due to a shorter incubation period, meaning hospitalization increased earlier, from 10 to 14 days. Therefore, any increase in hospitalization outcomes is likely to occur late next week or the last week of April, as the number of cases started to increase significantly in the last week.

Indeed, although some areas seem to have avoided an increase in hospitalizations, both hospitalization and death rates have increased recently in the UK, which generally predicts government trends.

Closer to home, New York City is starting to see a steady increase in hospitalizations after an increase in infections and positive tests. The average 7-day hospital stay in the state was at the end of March 2000. Data from Johns Hopkins University. It was more than 5,600 as of Wednesday, the last day for which data is available.

Are there any variables in the daily test mix that accurately describes the current wave of new cases, one of the lowest drops for about a month? The difference between the average 7-day test positivity and the average 7-day test case seems to support this suspicion.

Also, a new state study suggests that the number of people in the Los Angeles area infected with the Covid-19 pandemic is far greater than the number confirmed by standard tests. This is largely due to the number of people who have never developed symptoms and therefore have never been tested or have access to tests, or who have tested positive at home and have never disclosed the results.

City News Service contributed to this report.