LA County is reporting 93 new deaths from COVID and 2,741 new cases today.
A huge drop in coronavirus cases in LA County
Also a big drop in COVID hospitalizations
COVID deaths in LA County are coming down too -- and officials think the daily death tolls have peaked -- but they are still very high
There was a scary increase in COVID cases among hospital workers in this latest wave in LA, though it's begun to fall
191 health care workers and first responders have died of COVID in LA County since the beginning of the pandemic. 47% of the people who died were Latino, 31% were Asian, 8% were white and 7% were Black
Of people who've received at least one vaccine dose in LA County, only 3.5% were black -- a "glaring inadequacy," says LA County public health director Barbara Ferrer.
Approximately 7% of black residents in LA County who are over 65 years old have gotten vaccinated, compared to 17% of elderly white residents and 18% of elderly Asian residents.
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-159 cases of the B117 UK variant
-1,203 cases of West Coast variant
-no cases of P1 variant, believed to have emerged in Brazil
-two cases of the South African B1351 variant -- one in Alameda and one in Santa Clara County
What we know about these variants:
-the B117 variant is believed to be about 50% more infectious. it's prevalence in the US is doubling every week
-research on the B1351 variant suggests it may make some vaccines less effective. it's an issue to keep an eye on
Some more details about B1351 in California:
In the Santa Clara County case, the person infected returned from international travel in mid-January and began experiencing symptoms several days later.
LA County officials say that food and agriculture workers will become eligible for vaccination here in the next two to three weeks.
That sectors breaks down like this. About half a million people in this category in LA County.
LA County officials say that childcare and education workers will become eligible for vaccination within the next two to three weeks. There are nearly 700,000 people who qualify under this category in the county.
How many people are wearing cloth masks on top of KN95s?
The CDC's new masking guidance recommends wearing a cloth mask over a disposable mask, but it asks that people NOT layer KN95s. KN95s are meant to be worn on their own, it says.
I'm trying to find out more soon on why they're recommending this, but I'm wondering if it's because KN95s have a structure to them and if you put something on top it might flatten the mask, and reduce the tightness of the seal? Hopefully will know more soon.
The CDC is updating its mask guidance today to recommend new ways to make masks fit more tightly, including double-masking, knotting the ear loops or using a moldable nose wire. This is based on new science released today.
CDC researchers conducted an experiment in which they simulated aerosolized COVID-19 transmission between two people, and found that exposure was reduced by more than 95% when both people were wearing a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask.
"Masks work, and work best when they have a good fit and are worn correctly," says CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Officials say that there are now five confirmed cases of the B117 coronavirus variant -- often called the UK strain -- in LA County.
LA County public health director Barbar Ferrer: "I would just note: there's no way that we don't have a fair amount of variant circulating, a fair amount of mutated virus circulating. It's just a question of how much and does it become dominant."
I just heard someone say that North Dakota and Arizona have way lower death rates from COVID than California, and that they've managed it without all our rules.
That's just not true! Everyone loves to bash California, but our death rate from COVID ranks 33 out of 50 states 🙃
Nearly 41,000 Californians have died from COVID -- about 1 of every 1,000 residents
If we had the same death rate as Arizona or North Dakota, we'd have around 75,000 dead. Even the rate of Florida, which everyone love to compare us to, would bring our toll to 50,000
Idk why people think California is doing so much worse than it is. It might be news coverage highlighting how big our surge has been -- it was undoubtedly huge, I don't dispute that -- or just that people like to make fun of California