This is increasing even as the state relaxes some guidelines banning its small gatherings.
The county’s transmission rate, also known as the R number, has risen above 1.0, meaning that the average person infected with the virus infects more than one person at a time. An R rate below 1.0 means that the overall number of infected people is expected to decrease, while above 1.0 means it will increase.
With the advent of Halloween and other holidays, the state recently relaxed some of its guidelines on gatherings, saying that as many as three homes could be gathered if outside, if masks were worn and if practiced, there would be social distance. They are told to limit the gathering to two hours or less.
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Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Mantu Davis said that if people from different households do not gather, they are better off, if they do, they should be sure to take the recommended precautions.
“We recommend that if you don’t want to do this, please don’t.” Davis said. “Because it increases the risk, the more people you interact with and the closer you get. But if it’s going to happen, here are the guidelines and rules for doing it.”
Some regulations limiting exposure to coronavirus are expected to reduce the influenza season this year as well. Yet, Los Angeles County has issued new guidelines seeking to prevent the spread of the flu in nursing homes. The guide asks all residents to give flu shots to nursing homes. If a flu outbreak is reported, the home needs to limit all exceptional visits.
“As we’ve seen from countries in the Southern Hemisphere whose flu season is over, these actions could be effective in slowing the spread of both viruses,” Davis said. “And a lot of people have seen a fairly mild flu season.”
Davis is also blasting a bunch of immune plans that are said to be warming up by the White House. It is called the Great Barrington Declaration. It proposes to let people who are not the most at risk for the virus resume their normal activities, while only those at the highest risk remain isolated and safe. This will prevent the virus from spreading to most people in the population, theoretically developing herd immunity.
A number of medical experts have hit out at the plan because of the damage it can do.
Davis notes that deaths will be significantly multiplied because the country is nowhere near to develop herd immunity.
“There’s no evidence that we’re close to herd immunity in the United States, as 85 to 90 percent of the population is still at risk of getting infected with Covid-19,” Davis said. “And we also saw that animal immunization efforts failed during the epidemic, as happened in Sweden, and as a result the death rate was very low.”
Also, the city of Burbank plans to start enforcing mask rules with fines from Friday. The city says people are receiving complaints about not wearing masks in public, especially in popular areas such as Chandler Bikeway, Downtown Burbank, Magnolia Park Business District and city parks.
Burbank has contracted with a contractor, where it will help represent the intent of people who do not wear masks in public, especially in those areas. Penalties start at $ 100 for the first violation, $ 200 for the second and at 500 500 for additional violations over a 12-month period.
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