Los Angeles County Public Health officials have reported 2,600 new COVID-19 infections — the fourth consecutive day above 2,500 cases — and 10 additional deaths Sunday.
Health officials have repeatedly blamed the current surge in cases on the highly infectious “Delta” variant of the virus. The variant was first discovered in India and is blamed for rampant infections in that country, along with outbreaks in the United Kingdom. It is now spreading across the United States, contributing to rising case numbers and hospitalizations.
The rate of increase in cases in the county between July 3 and 16 was 135%.
There are 688 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in L.A. County and 21% of those are in the intensive care unit. Testing results are available for more than 7,241,000 people, with 16% of people testing positive. Saturday’s daily test positivity rate was 4.9%.
The total number of cases during the pandemic is now 1,281,760, while the county’s death toll rose to 24,624 on Saturday.
The county Department of Public Health noted that unvaccinated people are becoming infected at five times the rate of transmission from just one month ago.
Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer released figures Thursday showing that fully vaccinated people are also not immune from contracting the virus — representing 20% of all infections during June. But she stressed that thanks to the vaccines, the vast majority of those people are not becoming severely ill or hospitalized. And she said without the vaccines, the situation would be much worse.
“If we didn’t have 5.3 million people fully vaccinated in L.A. County, we would probably be seeing almost double the number of cases today,” Ferrer said in a statement Friday. “As cases continue to rise, many of us are trying to figure out what steps to take to minimize exposure to the virus. For those eligible and not yet vaccinated, now would be an important time to get your vaccine because our three vaccines all offer a lot of protection to the vaccinated person and also slow down the spread.
“For everyone, common sense precautions including masking when indoors, frequent hand-washing and avoiding crowds will reduce your risk while allowing you to continue to enjoy the activities you love.”
County figures released Thursday showed that among roughly 4.85 million fully vaccinated residents from Jan. 19 through Tuesday, only 6,520 tested positive for the virus, for a rate of 0.13%. That’s up from a rate of 0.09% last week.
Of the fully vaccinated people in that period who tested positive, only 287 were hospitalized, for a rate of 0.0059% of the vaccinated population, up from 0.0045% last week. There were 30 vaccinated people who died, a rate of 0.0006%.
The most recent figures provided by the county Thursday show that 5.3 million of the county’s roughly 10.3 million residents are fully vaccinated, a rate of roughly 52%. About 1.3 million county residents are ineligible for shots because they are under age 12.
Ferrer stressed the protection offered by the vaccines, despite the increasing numbers of vaccinated people becoming infected, comparing their effectiveness to a car’s seat belt.
“While seat belts don’t prevent every bad thing that can happen during a car accident, they do provide excellent protection, so much so that we all use them routinely,” she said. “It wouldn’t really make sense to not use a seat belt just because it doesn’t prevent all injuries from car accidents. Rejecting a COVID vaccine because they don’t offer 100% protection really ignores the powerful benefits we’ve experienced from those people who have gotten vaccinated.”
Young Black and Latino residents continue to have the lowest rates of vaccination in the county.
Black residents also had the highest rate of new infections over the last month, at 181 per 100,000 residents. Latino/a residents have traditionally had one of the highest infections rates throughout the pandemic, but over the past month, white residents accrued a higher rate, at 83 per 100,000 residents. Latinos had an infection rate of 62 per 100,000 residents.
Black residents also had the highest rate of hospitalizations over the month, followed by Latinos and whites.
In hopes of encouraging more people to get vaccinated, the county is continuing to offer incentives. Through next Thursday, anyone who gets vaccinated at sites operated by the county, the city of Los Angeles or St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will be entered for a chance to win one of seven three-concert ticket packages at AEG venues, for a variety of acts.
What happened to the intrepid reporter, John Duran doing public service postings of the most up to date information on Wehoville? One can do their own research thank you but the short stint seemed to give him some limited visibility, then the hotel worked skirmish and once again, poof he was gone.
Love how the gays are trying to pinpoint the unvaccinated on “trump supporting republicans.” Didn’t know there were so many in Los Angeles, specifically West Hollywood. The unvaccinated in Los Angeles are actually concentrated in the black and latinx communities. And it’s preposterous to claim lack of access. It’s actually laughable.
Wow, just the image of upper crust WeHo eateries and status conscious clubs.. enforcing vaccination and test results… codifying segregation among racial and class lines.
Progressives need to “reality test” their principles NOW and REJECT discrimination against unvaccinated people in WeHo.
Hammer meet Nails
Mandating showing your vaccine card for entry to bars and restaurants should probably have happened by now rather than leaving it up to individual businesses to do so. That is IF the government were concerned enough to just do that much. I’d prefer to go to businesses that require this over ones that do not.
One of the commenters on here stated if we don’t pay attention,we will be in this mess forever.Well, forever is here!!
I didn’t think the good times would stay around for very long after June 15th when the state re-opened.It looks like we will be in some sort of struggle here and there with this virus, with infection rates going up and down for some time.This is going to become a game of whack-a-mole where new COVID variants will be popping up.
Hope we didn’t promote an Abbey/David Cooley sponsored Mini Super Spreader event this weekend.
If we don’t pay attention we will be in this mess forever. vaccination or no vaccination.
Well the more outdoor space Mr. Cooley there has to work with (like on Robertson Blvd.) the less likely it is ye olde covid gets passed around in more confined spaces, chief!
Would have to disagree with you. The type of irresponsible behavior that Mr. Cooley’s staff engages in is reason enough not to patronize his space in or out. One commenter on a different thread mentioned looking the Abbey up on Yelp. Not surprising to read the accounts. While I once attended a campaign event for John Heilman during an afternoon, its not something I would choose. His reputation seems to attract tourists and celebrity gawkers. So as a “community voice” close to the vest of city council members, Mr. Cooley had an opportunity to step up during the pandemic, be… Read more »
Whatever it is you are alluding to regarding your personal dislike of Mr Cooley, is beside the point. Covid spreads easier in more confined spaces, less in outdoor, more open spaces where people are not as close together. IF preventing the spread of covid is really the point here….
Mr. Cooley’s behavior speaks for itself and have no personal opinion other than that. Covid spreads easier among irresponsible people inside, outside wherever.
Eliminating the mask mandate on June 15th was a mistake. And now we’re seeing the probable results of that error. Pictures of events just at Rocco’s make me cringe with people packed into that indoor space. I wonder how many will now test positive or maybe worse.
Agree on 6/15, but I (and everybody I saw) wore a mask indoors.
Welp.
Not a surprise.
#GetVaccinated