With the holiday weekend upon us, Los Angeles County health officials on Friday, May 27, urged residents to mark Memorial Day with caution to prevent the spread of COVID-19 again.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement: “As we celebrate Memorial Day this Monday, I want to express my gratitude to all our Armed Forces members and their families who have protected us through their military service. has devoted his life to.” Statement.
“Many of us will attend or host events honoring these courageous men and women over this long weekend. Regardless of how you plan to spend the holiday, we want you to use four powerful tools – vaccination, masking Reduce your chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 by leveraging testing and therapeutics.
The urge came amid rising numbers of infections and persistent virus-related hospitalizations.
On Friday, the county reported 5,800 new cases, raising the cumulative total from the entire pandemic to 2,961,673. There were 455 COVID positive patients in county hospitals, up from 429 on Thursday, according to state data. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care stood at the same number of 55 as the previous day.
Health officials have noted that many COVID positive patients were admitted to hospitals for reasons other than the virus. But Ferrer said Thursday that those patients still need advanced levels of care that puts additional pressure on hospitals.
“They require a lot of different resources that are of high intensity, so that in itself puts more stress on the system,” she said.
The county also reported eight more COVID-related deaths on Friday, raising the county’s death toll from the pandemic to 32,117.
The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 4.3% on Friday, up from 4.1% on Thursday.
Ferrer announced on Thursday that rising case numbers across the county have led to an increase in virus outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities, prompting some strict infection-control measures.
Nursing facilities staff will now have to wear N95-level masks at all times and undergo twice-weekly testing, while residents will undergo weekly testing. All communal dining has also been put on hold, and all non-essential indoor group activities are being stopped.
Los Angeles County remains in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “moderate” category of virus activity. Under CDC guidelines, counties in the “moderate” category would be moved to “high” if the rate of hospital admissions related to the new virus reaches 10 per 100,000 residents, or if the county has 10% of staffed hospital beds. but is occupied by COVID-positive patients.
Ferrer said the county’s current rate of virus-related hospital admissions is now 4.5 per 100,000 – double the rate a month ago – and the rate of staff beds currently occupied by COVID patients is 2.3%.
While those numbers are well below “high” range levels, Ferrer said that “if we continue on the current trajectory, we could be straining our hospital system with cases and hospitalizations in a matter of weeks.” “
