LOS ANGELES, CA – Increased testing in low-income neighborhoods has helped Los Angeles reduce the racial disparities that have left communities of color suffering from coronavirus deaths, officials said Wednesday.
As is always the case with the coronavirus, the latest statistics paint a vague picture of the local outbreak. Los Angeles County recorded another 61 deaths on Wednesday, which is much higher than it had been weeks before the surge. At the same time, the number of new cases and hospitalizations is far from what they were just a few weeks ago. While that trend is promising, county officials are keeping a close eye on the COVID-19 transmission frequency, which went up last week.
Province Director of Health Services, Dr. Christina Ghaly, said that since Wednesday, the transmission rate of the disease – if the average number of people infecting a coronavirus-infected patient with the virus – stood at 0.92, below the target of 1, but slightly above last week’s average of 0 , 86.
“We will have to look at the data carefully next week to know if this small increase … is in fact significant,” Ghaly said. “… If the (rate) is less than one can stay, it means that the number of infections and cases will gradually decrease over time.”
But with the rate remaining below one, Ghaly said the county needs to have adequate hospital space and ventilators in the coming weeks.
Ghaly also acknowledged that parents are afraid to return children to classes on individuals at schools, but said it is still too early to reopen campuses.
“LA County reports … that COVID-19 cases among children and young adults have increased slightly, although the range in the severity of cases varies widely from mild to severe,” she said. “This should serve as a reminder to everyone that COVID can infect anyone. No one is susceptible to this virus, regardless of your age, and regardless of whether or not you have underlying health conditions.”
County Department of Public Health director Barbara Ferrer announced 1,956 new cases on Wednesday – which included about 100 positive results from a statewide report and “a few hundred” from a large test lab that delivered delayed results from earlier in the week. Long Beach, meanwhile, reported another 83 cases. The new cases raised the total number since the start of the pandemic to 225,910.
Ferrer said 1,378 people were hospitalized on Wednesday because of COVID-19, a slight uptick from Tuesday. The number of hospitalizations has gone down in recent weeks, although health officials said the decline is the same in recent days. But the number is still well below the roughly 2,200 hospital patients seen in mid-July.
Ferrer ran through a series of statistics that showed continuous disparate impact throughout the pandemic on Latino / a, Black and Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander residents, as well as among lower-income residents.
She said recent figures show that some progress is being made in closing the gap among ethnic groups, both in terms of new cases and deaths.
“All of this shows that we are narrowing the gap for the populations that have really been the hardest hit,” Ferrer said.
“… We have, as you have seen, gone a long way in reducing and eliminating the gaps we have seen in the health outcomes COVID-19. But as I have already noted, we are Began to see some progress, “Ferrer said. “… I think testing and access to testing is one of the areas I would at this point have estimated some responsibility for reducing the gap, as it allows people to be identified early on as positive and they can isolate and quarantine their close contacts, which reduces the transmission of the community and then reduces the transmission that can happen in workplaces. “
She also gave credit to the work of business owners for ensuring they comply with health protocols. They found that health inspectors tripled their workload from March to July, responding to complaints in addition to their normal company visits. And while those inspections have increased, companies have generally shown increasing levels of compliance.
“Companies play a really important role in slowing down the spread, and the actions and policies that are followed on a business site can greatly affect the ability to slow the spread both in our community and in preventing outbreaks. jobs, ”she said.
City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.
