Covid cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Los Angeles County. A new subtype of corona virus Makes further profits across the state.
According to the latest available data, L.A. County averaged 121 new cases per day during the seven-day period ending Sunday, up from 106 per day the previous week.
Reported cases are almost certainly undercounts, since they generally only measure lab-confirmed infections where tests are done in medical facilities, not people who test at home or don’t test at all (and fewer people are getting tested now).
Scientists say these trends are a sign of a possible summer wave. A series of new COVID-19 subvariants, collectively called FLiRT, are slowly replacing the dominant strain of last winter.
New FLiRT sub-versionsOfficially known as KP.3, KP.2 and KP.1.1, these viruses are believed to be around 20% more infectious than their parent viruses. Jn.1This is the predominant winter subtype, according to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco.
For the two-week period ending June 8, 55% of estimated COVID samples in the US were Types of FLiRT – up from 28.6% a month earlier.
The peak of average new daily cases in L.A. County last summer was 571 for the week ending Aug. 30. The peak of average new daily cases last winter was 621 for the week ending Dec. 27.
Covid-positive patients are also being admitted to the hospital Upward TrendThe hospital had an average of 126 Covid patients per day in the week ending June 8, compared with 102 in the previous week.
Still, the numbers of cases and hospitalizations remain relatively low — even compared to last winterWhich was relatively mild. Last summer, the number of COVID hospitalizations was 620, and last winter it was 825.
The increase in cases and hospitalizations in LA County likely reflects an earlier-than-usual start to the Covid wave, which has occurred every summer since the pandemic began. Previously, the mid-year increase in Covid cases and hospitalizations in the county began in early July — in 2021 and 2023 — but in early May in 2022.
“This increase is not unexpected as we have seen recent increases in COVID-19 infections during the summer. We are not currently seeing an increase in COVID-related deaths,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a statement to the Times.
LA County is averaging one COVID death per day.
Covid levels in LA County wastewater were at 13% of the 2022-23 winter peak for the week ending June 1, roughly steady from the previous week.
But statewide, California is one of six states with high levels of COVID in its wastewater, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Three states have even higher levels: Florida, Hawaii and Montana were named as states with very high COVID sewage levels. Besides California, the other five states with high levels were Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland and New Mexico.
The rate of positive COVID tests is steadily rising. In the week that ended Monday, 6.4% of California COVID tests came back positive, up from 2.4% last month. It peaked at 13.1% last summer.
Experts have the following advice on what to do if you feel sick or test positive for COVID-19:
Stay home and away from others when you’re sick
CDC They say People should stay away from others for at least 24 hours until their respiratory symptoms have resolved and they no longer have a fever (and they are not taking fever-reducing medication). Previously, the CDC recommended people with COVID isolate for at least five days and take extra precautions for a few more days.
In deciding when symptoms are getting better, the most important thing is “an overall sense of feeling better and the ability to resume activities,” the CDC says. They sayThe CDC said a cough may persist for a long time if a person is contagious.
The LA County Department of Public Health has also recommends testing It is mandatory to take a rapid test and get a negative result before leaving isolation.
Test early and often
An early cough or sore throat may not just be a cold; it could also be COVID. So be sure to get tested, said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California
And the first COVID test may be negative because the body hasn’t yet made enough copies of the virus to show up on the test. So Hudson recommends testing once daily for three to five days if the first result is negative.
Doing so can help the person stay isolated and take measures to limit the spread of the disease.
Take extra precautions after recovery
People who have recovered from COVID-19 may still be contagious for a few days after recovery. The CDC recommends taking additional precautions for five additional days. These include:
- Wear a well-fitting mask
- Keep getting tested. If the report comes out positive, you are more likely to infect others.
- Maintain distance from other people
- Increase ventilation by opening windows, turning on an air purifier, and getting outside when meeting people
- Practice good hygiene – wash and sanitise hands frequently, clean frequently touched surfaces and cover coughs and sneezes
Apply the mask for 10 days
The LA County Department of Public Health says people infected with COVID-19 should be quarantined need to wear A well-fitting mask should be worn for 10 days after you start feeling sick — even if symptoms are improving — to reduce the chance of infecting other people.
The agency said if your two consecutive test results come back negative at least one day apart, the mask can be removed early. They say,
Be alert of resurgence of Covid
Covid rebound This can happen when people feel better but then start feeling sick again two to eight days later. Some people may even test positive again. COVID rebound can result in a person becoming contagious again and able to infect others.
Rebound can happen whether you take the medication or not Paxlovid,
If you feel sick again after recovering from COVID, follow the same instructions for staying away from others as you did during the first stage of the illness, officials say.
What to do if you test positive but have no symptoms
The CDC says if you never had any symptoms but tested positive, Additional Precautions For the next five days, precautions such as wearing a mask, getting tested, increasing ventilation, maintaining distance and washing hands frequently will have to be taken.
LA County Department of Public Health recommended Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19. If you have two consecutive negative tests at least one day apart, you can remove your mask early.
LA County Health Officer recommend People who come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 should wear a good mask around other people for 10 days after their last contact. And they recommend getting tested three to five days after your last contact.
Protection of the elderly and immunocompromised
The LA County Department of Public Health has urged infected people to avoid contact with older and immunocompromised people for at least 10 days after they start feeling sick, or after their first positive test if they don’t have symptoms.
If the infected person tests negative in two consecutive rapid tests taken at an interval of one day, the risk of the infected person spreading Covid to others reduces significantly.
But to be especially safe around high-risk people, “masking or isolation (by the infected person) for the full 10 days would be the most protective way to further reduce that risk,” the agency said.
