As of March 27, only 3% of emergency department encounters have been classified as COVID-related. Even so, the health department has indicated it is concerned with a new subvariant gaining traction…
A more infectious version of the omicron variant continues to gain traction in Los Angeles County, public health officials said Thursday, March 31. And while that traction has not yet translated into an upwards spike in hospitalizations, it has sparked caution amid the recent slow pace of congressional action vital to battling the disease, officials said.
As a result, Ferrer asked local residents to be prepared for the possibility that a new variant could provoke additional interventions and mitigation measures. Especially since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated this week that BA.2 is now the dominant variant in the United States.
“The rate of decline has been slower, and this week we’re not seeing any declines in the cases,” Ferrer said.“At some point we knew that it was likely we were going to stop declining,” she said. “We know there’s still transmission. … Personally, I wish we were at a lower level when we’re doing this plateauing, but we have seen a significant decrease, and that’s the good news.”
Los Angeles County Public Health reported 16 deaths due to COVID-19 and 784 new cases, slightly more than the region’s recent average of 600, a number that hasn’t been seen since July 2021, Ferrer said. The county’s rate of 66 new cases per 100,000 people is yet another positive sign of lower transmission.
“The truth is that given the threat of a more infectious virus circulating widely across the county, those who are unvaccinated, those that aren’t up to date on their boosters, those who are immunocompromised, those with underlying health conditions, and those with more exposures at work and in the community are at higher risk of getting infected, hospitalized and even dying,” Ferrer warned.
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