Los Angeles COVID spread worsens: 1 of every 3 likely infected, as officials urge greater caution
Minority groups continue to suffer disproportionately. Companies using cash to encourage people to overcome vaccine hesitancy. And the CDC's February warning was right.
The latest data is terrible, and the trend is worsening. The surging COVID-19 deaths around the country most likely trace back to infections that occurred around Thanksgiving, while new hospitalizations likely originated in late December. As others have noted, the pandemic is worsening at the same time as Americans are paying less attention to it. The USA again recorded nearly 4,000 deaths in the last day and will pass 400,000 deaths by early next week.
Preliminary data on the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson shows that the shots trigger immune responses in most people who get the injections, and there is a huge improvement after the second dose. Further study is underway, and more complete data is expected next month. Unlike the mRNA vaccines, the J&J vaccine would not require cold storage.
A metric that warrants more attention: The USA remains behind on testing and what epidemiologists call “disease surveillance.” This December NPR story explains further.
More than 3 million out of Los Angeles County’s 10 million residents may have been infected with COVID-19, according to calculations by the county health department. The area logged 266 new deaths reported in the past day and 1,600 dead in the past week. The risk of infection is so great that the health director has added new precautions to the recommendation list:
“When leaving home to access essential services, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said, people should bring sanitizing wipes to disinfect their cellphones, car keys, work stations and door handles — anything they might touch that others also have touched. Health officials also suggested avoiding eating or drinking with anyone not in your household, washing or sanitizing your hands every hour if you’re around others, and taking a break from shopping.” - from the Los Angeles Times.
The Covid Tracking Project reports that Latino individuals in California are 2.6 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than white people in California. The team reports that 48 states are in active or severe outbreak stages. Only North Dakota and Hawaii are out of the red zone. Test positivity rates are over 20% in Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah and Georgia. North Dakota brought its new infection rate down considerably, but this week has seen new deaths and cases.
One of my friends called excitedly recently after getting a COVID-19 vaccination at the end of the day at a retail store. This is happening in more places, especially after officials told those administering COVID-19 vaccinations to give shots to people even if they are lower on the priority list if the alternative would be to waste the dose. Read more about random people getting leftover vaccinations in this Vox article.
The CDC reports 21 cases of severe allergic reactions after Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinations, including 17 in people with histories of allergic reactions. Of the 20 cases for which follow-up information was available, all recovered. The report highlights the need for rapid response medications and trained personnel to be at vaccination locations.
Revising history: HHS Secretary Alex Azar admitted that the CDC’s Nancy Messonier was “correct” in February when she warned that COVID-19 was likely to cause major disruption across the USA. After that Feb. 25 comment, the White House ordered a halt to CDC briefings and began a concerted effort to deny the pandemic and its risks to Americans.