The rapid growth of the most contagious BA.2 variant of Covid-19 continues in Los Angeles County. As of March 12, for the most recent date for which data are available, 32% of positive local Covid tests that passed the lab ranking were found to be the result of BA.2.
In the week ending March 5, 16.7% of consecutive cases were found to be BA.2, meaning the rate of new cases nearly doubled in just 7 days. In the last week of February, BA.2 accounted for 6.3% of new cases, so the rate of infection options also doubled in the previous week.
Given the steady and rapid spread of BA.2, other regions where it has previously appeared, such as the UK, South Africa, Singapore, India and the northeastern United States, will also become dominant in Los Angeles within 2 weeks of last counts. came.
In fact, this week’s CDC data map shows that this is the case in three state regions—California, Nevada, and Arizona. See the table below.
That said, the spread of the highly contagious variant has yet to appear in the overall increase in virus-related hospitalizations, U.S. health officials say, and this is likely due to the relatively high number of Americans currently vaccinated.
Los Angeles Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said today that only 3% of visits to county emergency departments on Sunday were related to Covid. This is far from the end of 2021 of the bad old days.
“Despite the increase in BA.2 we have initiated, these are yet to lead to an increase in Covid-19 emergency room visits,” he said.
However, the country now averages 660 cases per day as the country has seen a decline in the number of cases seen in recent weeks.
“The rate of decline was slower and we don’t see a drop in cases this week,” Ferrer said. Said.
He added that it was too soon to call the reduction “alarming” but described it as “extraordinary”.
“We knew at some point we would probably stop,” Ferrer said. “We know it’s still a show in progress… I wish we were at a lower level when we made this plateau but we saw a significant drop and that’s good news.”
He also noted that the slowdown in the decline may be related to the recent removal of Covid-related restrictions, such as requirements for indoor masks. The country, along with the state, will lift vaccination and negative test verification requirements for indoor mega-events like sporting events and concerts on Friday.
“Every time we lower the required restrictions or the level of protection, we’ve always seen an increase[in cases],” Ferrer said. “The slowdown in the decline can also be perceived to some extent on the upside.”
On Thursday, the country announced 784 new cases of covid, with an additional 16 virus-related deaths.
The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 1.1% through Thursday, up from 0.7% in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the rate was 0.9%.
The number of co-positive patients in hospitals across the country fell from 325 on Wednesday to 308 on Thursday. The number of patients seen for resuscitation fell from 51 the previous day to 47.
According to county statistics, 71% of all county residents are fully vaccinated. However, only 31% of children aged 5 to 11 years are fully vaccinated, the lowest rate of any age group.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Source: Deadline
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
