3 times more Los Angeles residents infected with Covid than previously reported, a study says

A new state study suggests that the number of people infected by the Covid-19 pandemic in the Los Angeles area is much higher 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 who have not been included in the tests, Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of public health, said today. .

The study, based on the results of antibody tests carried out on a control group and subsequently extrapolated to the entire population, found that from May to June last year, three times as many adults as expected were actually infected with Covid-19. country confirmed. Answers to the test. The numbers among the children were even more dramatic, indicating that in fact five times more children had been infected than what tests confirmed.

“The researchers estimated that at the time of the study, which returned in late spring 2021, 30 percent of adults in the Los Angeles district were infected and 37 percent of children were infected,” CalScope’s Ferrer said.

At the same time, the country reported infections in only 10 percent of adults and just under 10 percent of children, he said.

The marked differences were likely due to deficiencies in the test system. He noted that many people who may have been infected with the virus have never been tested because they never got sick or developed any symptoms. Access to tests has also been restricted at times, preventing people from confirming their infections.

Ferrer also said that the current wide availability of home tests also affects the number of official cases, as people who test at home don’t necessarily report their results back to the country.

The study data “could be indicative of a large number of unreported infections in the Los Angeles district,” Ferrer said. “It is important to understand, because it gives us an idea of ​​the true scale and impact of the pandemic.”

His comments came after the country experienced a steady rise in infection rates caused by the BA.2 infectious subtype of the virus. Based on the latest genetic testing of Covid case samples in the country, it is estimated that the sub-variant currently accounts for 67% of local infections. This is up from 47% a week ago and 32% a week ago.

The numbers indicate that BA.2 has now been shown to be the dominant strain of the virus circulating in the country.

Ferrer said the country is now accumulating an average of more than 1,000 new cases per day in the past week, up from 878 the week before.

However, while the incidence is steadily increasing, the country has yet to see an increase in hospitalizations and mortality, a fact that Ferrer says could be the result of higher vaccination rates or other immunity levels that prevent people from contracting. a serious illness.

He went on to warn that covid infection still has the potential to have serious consequences, including death. But she also said that as long as the country sees an increase in cases, it will not see “exponential growth”.

“We are seeing a small and steady increase of between 2% and 3% every day,” he said. “At some point it will be more of a concern if he doesn’t get off and we hope we talk. Our hope is that people will actually recognize that we have a more contagious sub-variant. Be more careful. Wear this mask in these high risk environments. Go take the test when you meet. Try to avoid reinfection or re-infection. “

The country announced 1,214 new infections on Thursday, for a total of 2,849,185 since the start of the pandemic. There were also 12 other deaths, bringing the total death toll to 31,839.

The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus has risen to 1.7% since Thursday, higher than last week, but remains low overall.

As of Thursday, there were 239 positive patients in the country’s hospitals, up from 256 on Wednesday, according to state data. Of these patients, 32 were treated in intensive care, compared with 35 the day before.

City News Service contributed to this report.