LA County is seeing seemingly daily highs when it comes to coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. And many are questioning what's gone wrong and how we can turn the tide.
LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer speaks with KNX In Depth Co-Host Charles Feldman about the growing problem, and if there's a solution.
LA County Public Health is reporting more than 906,000 cases, more than 12,000 deaths and more than 7,960 hospitalizations as of Jan. 9.
Ferrer says there are a couple of issues to note adding that California, and LA County, for a long time looked and fared better than everybody else.
"Even though we had a small surge back in July, at the time it seemed like a big surge, but relative to everyone else it was small and it ended rather quickly, we have had a relatively low positivity rate on tests which really means many people in LA County had not seen this virus or become infected by this virus. And then when you had the possibility this virus is being transmitted more, more people were intermingling, more people were traveling, there were a lot more people who could get infected. And once it was a cold, it became very easy for it to spread," Ferrer said.
She says for a long time there wasn't a lot of spread in LA County. "As this went on longer and longer, that became harder. Certainly by the fall we have evidence from surveys done by USC and our own data on contact tracing, that many more people were intermingling," she says.
Ferrer said when there was a lockdown in the spring, there wasn't much known about the new virus. Now, she said there is more known about the virus including the reality that spread doesn't happen outdoors, spaced out and using face coverings.
"So why go back to telling people no beaches, no trails, no parks because we know you can do those activities as long as you are playing by the rules," she says.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
What about the role of law enforcement in a pandemic?
Ferrer says there are places where there's been heavy reliance on law enforcement such as breaking up large gatherings and large parties.
When it comes to wearing a face covering "we wish and have asked as much as possible when law enforcement has time to please 'you notice a group of people you can just stop and say 'hey folks you need to put your mask on.'' I think some people were assuming that it would be good if we were issuing citations, fining people for not wearing a mask. I think the problem with that is we aren't going to arrest our way out of the pandemic. If you fine people and they don't pay the fines, they're misdemeanors. Right now we don't want our prisons crowded so we aren't going to arrest people for a misdemeanor defense."
COVID-19 VARIANT
If the measures right now are not effective, what is the end game, Charles Feldman asked Ferrer.
Ferrer says "we should never give up on changing hearts and minds."
When it comes to the COVID-19 variant from the U.K., how prepared is LA County for one, two or even three variants that may be more infectious than before?
Southern California saw instances of the COVID-19 variant from the U.K. beginning last month.
Ferrer says it's a cause of concern. "We have been sequencing at our small lab here in LA county from the very beginning," adding this virus has mutated many, many times.
Ferrer says there is a national system in place in other countries to create a national database and now the CDC is creating that. "We submit 10 samples every week as one of hundreds of counties that are now submitting samples to the CDC so that they can create that national database," she says.
VACCINES
Feldman asked about vaccines rollout in California which has been slower than expected. He asked why the vaccine isn't just getting into the arms of everyone.
Ferrer says there isn't a steady supply of vaccines. She says one of the biggest hurdles in getting a vaccine into the arms of folks is there are two different vaccines, both require two doses, and one needs the requirement of a deep freezer. "It makes it more complicated to distribute than otherwise might be than what's coming out with Astrazeneca one dose vaccine, less expensive to produce and can be manufactured much more quickly," she says.
She says there are slightly over 500,000 doses in LA County and this week closer to 600,000 doses. There was supposed to be 1.2 million doses delivery in December in LA County, according to Ferrer. She says all healthcare workers can get vaccinated. As of Monday, everyone in Phase 1A can get vaccinated, according to Ferrer. Some pharmacy chains will be providing the vaccine, according to Ferrer.
Recently, Gov. Newsom has said California is aggressively working to accelerate the pace of the vaccine administration including dentists administering the vaccine, pharmacy techs at places like CVS and Walgreens, National Guard, and clinic and doctor partnerships.
