Over the weekend of July 4, Los Angeles County announced 6,529 days of Covid infections today, nearly the highest the country has seen since early February. 7209 registered on May 31 is just more.
Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said earlier this week that the daily number of infections could match, but today’s figure plus the test-positive rate, which has nearly doubled in just two weeks, suggests the opposite.
On Tuesday, June 14, the LA test came back positive with 6.5%. Today this figure is 12.9%. That’s a huge jump for not only the percentage of total tests, but the 7-day average as well.
Meanwhile, the number of co-positive patients at Los Angeles County hospitals rose by 32 to 779, according to the latest state figures. Of these patients, 77 were treated in the intensive care unit, up from 68 the previous day.
Ferrer told the supervisory board on Tuesday that although hospitals saw an average of 720 patients per day last week, a 16% increase from the previous week, the number of new beneficiaries is actually declining.
Ferrer said the country is now accumulating an average of 6.6 new daily intakes of covid per 100,000 people, up from 7.3 per 100,000 a week ago. This was the first drop in this rate in recent weeks.
If the country reaches 10 new cases per 100,000 people, the rate is being watched closely as it will move into the “high” viral activity category defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weeks in a row, authorities will re-impose a mandatory inner mask-wearing order.
Health officials initially estimated that the country could reach the top category by the end of June, but assessment was delayed until mid-July last week due to a slowdown in the number of new beneficiaries. Ferrer said on Tuesday that if the current pace continues, the country will not reach peak flight until the end of July.
However, there are two wildcards.
The first is the increasing prevalence of the more infectious BA.5 and BA.4 Omicron variants, which are also better at preventing immunity from vaccines and/or previous infections.
While the number of cases detected for each variant is very small in Los Angeles, there are also a number of positive samples that have been genomically written to identify the strain causing Covid.
According to the CDC, BA.5 and BA.4 currently account for the majority of new cases reported in the United States and more specifically in a three-state region comprising California, Arizona, and Nevada.
The second wild card is the next holiday weekend.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Ferrer urged residents to remain vigilant until July 4 about the virus, which is primarily spread through vaccines.
“Residents can also reduce their chances of contracting or spreading Covid-19 by wearing masks and testing at home before closed meetings and events.” “If someone tests positive or feels sick, they should stay away from others to avoid infecting others. “As we celebrate this weekend, let’s try to take steps to protect our friends, family and colleagues who may be at high risk.”
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.
