California health officials are beginning to mumble what the next phase of recovery could look like, offering a glimmer of hope for places like Los Angeles County.
For more than a month, most of the state’s 58 counties have been on a watchdog of municipalities with concerned COVID-19 statistics. Health officials weigh important metrics to measure the spread of the virus in the community and the province’s ability to respond to it. Counties that do not meet the criteria of the state are restricted from opening all parts of the economy.
There are several benchmarks that must be met before a province can be removed from the list, and Los Angeles County has hit most of them: the average daily number of infections; hospitalizations and deaths are all declining; and it has enough intensive care beds and ventilators to make the patients think a sharp rise.
But LA County is far removed from the required 14-day average of less than 100 infections per 100,000 residents. As of Tuesday, the province’s rate was 239.2 positive cases per 100,000 people. Nevertheless, the average is a marked improvement from the 335 per head from last week.
Govin Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said state public officials are creating a new set of state-mandated protocols on how counties, once off the state’s list of monitors, can begin to reopen their economies and coronavirus restrictions to relax in this second go-round.
“The last time we did this, we empowered local health authorities to make decisions for themselves,” Newsom said. “We’re going to put a much deeper emphasis on how this time, not just the time.”
People wear masks as they walk on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as a precaution against coronavirus.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
LA County officials on Tuesday announced 1,003 new cases and 64 more deaths, bringing the county’s total to 224,031 cases and 5,335 deaths since the outbreak began. Hospitalizations have dropped by more than a third in the last month.
“I hope we can stay on this trajectory,” said county attorney Hilda Solis, whose district has covered many of the area’s cases. ‘We have hit it very hard, by letting people know they need to be part of the solution and the only way we can get the economy back and get people back to work is to lower these rates. ”
More than 2.1 million people in Los Angeles County have been tested for COVID-19, with about 10% positive testing, county health officials said in a statement Tuesday.
“While we work together to prevent more disease and death from COVID-19, it is important to note that although testing can help identify people who are infected, testing alone may not prevent all transmission,” said Director Association of Public Health Barbara Ferrer in a statement.
“People who test positive are able to infect others 48 hours before they have symptoms as a positive test result. The best way to prevent transmission is to take universal precautions – keep six feet apart from others, wear a face mask outside your home and wash your hands frequently. “
On Monday, Santa Cruz County was removed from the state’s watch list, and counties of Amador, Mendocino, Inyo and Calaveras were added. San Diego County, which has been reporting fewer than 100 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 residents for days, could be removed from the list next week as the trend continues.
“A lot of counties in the state are doing things really well,” said state health officer Dr. Mark Ghaly, citing the success of masking demands, isolating the sick and following new cases as part of the reason. “Some of those who come close to the watch list have probably been a little longer with some of these efforts.”
On Monday, nearly 10,000 new cases were reported and nearly 100 more killed. And although infections and deaths have dropped in recent days, hospitalizations increased Tuesday for the first time in two weeks, Ghaly said.
“One day is not a trend, but it is an important number that we will continue to see to make sure it does not become a trend,” he said.
As of Tuesday, California has recorded 632,667 cases of coronavirus and 11,342 deaths. A backlog of data that had kept the results of up to 300,000 tests of the state’s tally has since been resolved and most of the positive cases have been recorded in the state’s total, Ghaly said. Los Angeles County officials, on the other hand, said they expect more of the overdue cases to appear in future totals.
Going forward, Ghaly looks to encourage the public to prepare for the flu season, which is tough. Because the disease is also a respiratory disease, many of the precautionary measures people take against the transmission of COVID-19 should work to slow the spread of the flu.
“But unlike COVID, we actually have a vaccine,” Ghaly said. ‘Not only will it protect you and your communities, but it may be just what you need to prevent a visit to the emergency room. We know that extra movement in the ER and urgent care centers can create an exposure risk for COVID-19. “
However, vaccination trends against the flu do not look promising, he said.
Initially, the public was vaccinated in 2020 at a similar rate as last year, Ghaly said. But as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, influenza flu dropped dramatically in the spring. Only recently have the numbers gone up.
“The fact that we are still relatively low relative to the peak in August gives us concern and enables me to encourage families – and caregivers, parents – to use this time to plan that critical appointment and obtain vaccinations,” so we do not lose some of those important gains that California has made, ‘Ghaly said.
Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this report.
