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SPA 3 Regional Health Office COVID-19 Weekly Update January 21, 2022 COVID-19 Cases Increase by Nearly 10 Times in One Month Over 400,000 cases have been reported in LA County since January 1. This week, LA County marked the grim milestone of losing more than 28,000 residents to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Public Health urges residents to take steps to stay safe during the surge by: Getting vaccinated and boosted if they have not done so yet, as unvaccinated people are 2 – 4 times more likely to get infected than those fully vaccinatedUpgrading their masks to an N95, KN95, KF94, or a surgical mask, all of which do a better job at blocking virus particles than cloth masksLimiting non-essential activities where people are unmasked and crowded together, especially if indoors, until transmission is lower Residents can visit covid19.lacounty.gov… Read more

SPA 3 Regional Health Office COVID-19 Weekly Update January 14, 2022 Los Angeles County continues to experience a winter surge. Daily cases have risen steeply from about 27,000 a day on New Year’s Eve to over 43,000 new cases reported earlier this week. Almost one in four people getting tested are infected. The surge is also driving up hospitalizations and affecting health care workers. While many patients are not hospitalized for COVID-19, there are over 4,000 COVID-positive patients at LA County hospitals. Meanwhile, COVID-19-related deaths have remained stable at an average of 22 reported daily deaths over the past week, as deaths are a lagging indicator and not likely to increase until a few weeks after cases and hospitalizations rise. … Read more

SPA 3 Regional Health Office COVID-19 Weekly Update January 7, 2022 COVID-19 Cases are Rising The number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase rapidly across LA County.  We are seeing certain age groups driving the current surge. Adults aged 18 to 49 are most likely to get infected and spread COVID-19 to others; adults in this age group comprised about 70% of all the new cases we saw for the week ending December 28. Case rates among 18- to 49-year-olds have also increased the most. These dynamics likely reflect the reality that adults ages 18-49 are intermingling the most. While the explosive increases in cases indicate very high community transmission, we do have tools to protect ourselves and each other: Vaccination and booster doses are still very powerful ways to reduce your risk of infection or transmission.… Read more

SPA 3 Regional Health Office COVID-19 Weekly Update December 30, 2021 Effectiveness of COVID-19 Boosters Due to Omicron’s high transmissibility, Public Health has learned that immunity from past COVID-19 infection does not effectively prevent Omicron infections. In a study conducted in the United Kingdom, the risk of reinfection with Omicron variant was five times the risk of reinfection with other variants. Public Health is also learning that mRNA vaccines and boosters (Pfizer and Moderna) still provide some protection for preventing Omicron infection and hospitalization. A South African study demonstrated that two doses of Pfizer vaccine had 34% effectiveness at preventing Omicron infection, and that receiving a booster raised vaccine effectiveness to 75%. Another… Read more