Monday, February 15, 2021

County Reports 82 COVID-19 Deaths on Sunday

Lower COVID-19 Case Numbers Reported Over Holiday Weekend
CITY NEWS SERVICE

The county reported 1,936 new cases of COVID-19 and 82 additional deaths today, as officials said the lower case numbers may reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals continues to fall, dropping from 3,426 Saturday to 3,270, with 30% of those people in intensive care units.

The Los Angeles Department of Public Health said Saturday that the county’s hospitalization rate has declined 37% since Feb. 1.

The seven-day average for the county’s daily test positivity rate, which has also been steadily declining, dropped to 5.1% Sunday from 5.3% Saturday.

County Health Department officials continued to urge everyone to celebrate this weekend’s Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day holidays without mingling with people from other households. They say being around people who don’t live in the same household creates a greater risk for COVID-19 because people can be infected with the virus and not yet know it.

“On the eve of Valentine’s Day, we encourage everyone to be loving to others and always wear a mask when out of your house, keep a distance of at least six feet from people that don’t live with you, and stay home and away from others if you are sick or are currently under isolation or quarantine,” health officials wrote.

“These are simple actions that will slow the spread of COVID-19, save lives, and help end this pandemic,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Saturday. “In these times of vaccine scarcity, these are the most effective tools that we each have to protect each other as we continue to get more vaccines for everyone who wants it in the county.”

The Health Department also reminded residents that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending either “double masking” by wearing two masks (a disposable mask underneath and a cloth mask on top) or wearing a cloth mask combined with a fitter or brace.

Meanwhile, with vaccine supplies still limited, Los Angeles County will again reserve the majority of its available vaccinations this week to provide second doses for those ready to receive them, with county-operated large-scale sites exclusively administering second doses, health officials announced.

“Next week the majority of appointments at our vaccinations sites will continue to be for second doses,” Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the county, said Friday. “We will only be providing second doses at our Mega-POD (point of dispensing) sites.”

The county-operated Mega-PODs are at the Pomona Fairplex, Magic Mountain, the Forum in Inglewood, the county Office of Education in Downey, and Cal State Northridge.

Simon said first doses will be available at other locations, primarily at health centers, pharmacies “and other providers that serve the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The county has been receiving roughly 200,000 doses each week, although the actual amount has varied wildly week-to-week, making advance planning for reservations difficult. Supplies were so limited last week that the city of Los Angeles was forced to close the Dodger Stadium vaccination site and four other locations through the weekend because it had exhausted its supply by Thursday afternoon.

“We share their frustration,” Simon said. “We’re all frustrated. We know that we could do much more if we had more doses. For example, we’re now receiving about 200,000 doses each week, and as we’ve surveyed all of our providers, we’re confident that we could administer up to 600,000 doses a week.

So we have much, much greater capacity if we can get the available vaccine.”

Simon and L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis both said increasing supplies will be critical as more people become eligible for the shots — noting that the state plans to expand eligibility next month to all people ages 16 and older who have underlying medical conditions or disabilities that make them highly susceptible to death or severe illness from COVID-19.

Davis recognized the generally improving downward trends in daily cases, but stressed that while the numbers are getting better, they’re still high, and “the risk of running into someone with COVID-19 who may not know it is still very high.”

On Friday, the county also reported another 15 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, raising the overall total to 90, including one death.

Health officials noted there has been a 35% increase in the number of MIS-C infections locally over the past two weeks. The syndrome generally develops in children after they have COVID-19, although it has occasionally affected patients with no known prior infection.

In terms of vaccines, Simon said that the most recent figures show 1,345,949 doses have been administered in the county, with 1,047,074 of them being first doses. A total of 13.5% of the county’s population ages 16 and over have received at least one dose, and 3.8% of that population is fully vaccinated.