Los Angeles County health officials reported 2,767 new COVID-19 infections Wednesday, moving the county into a “high” level of community transmission on the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) scale.
In a Thursday news conference, County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer attributed the new cases to a combination of the Delta variant and the increase of intermingling of unmasked people who may or may not be vaccinated.
“The delta variant is a game-changer,” Ferrer said. “When you have a more infections variant that’s in circulation … you can expect what we’re seeing.”
The number of new cases increased from the 2,551 cases that were reported the previous day. Thursday marks the 14th consecutive day that new daily COVID cases throughout the county have topped 1,000 and the second straight day that infections have jumped past 2,500.
Cumulatively, the number of COVID cases throughout the pandemic increased to 1,276,137.
The County reported there are 645 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 22% of these people are in the ICU. Last week, there were 406 people hospitalized with COVID-19 illness.
Thursday’s test positivity rate is 5.2%; an increase from the rate of 1.2% on June 15 when physical distancing restrictions and capacity limits were lifted across all sectors.
The County’s daily average case rate, with a 7-day lag, is now 12.9 cases per 100,000 people, an increase from last week’s rate of 7.1 cases per 100,000.
There were 13 new deaths reported Thursday. To date, the County has reported 24,607 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic.
Health officials reported that 59% of the county’s residents have received at least one vaccine shot, but noted the vaccination rates among Black and Latino residents continues to trail Asians and white residents.
Just 46% of Black residents in the county have had at least one vaccine shot, compared to 55% for Latino residents. The vaccination rate for white residents is at 66%, with a 77% rate for Asians.
Vaccination rates continue to be especially low among younger Black residents, with only 29% of those aged 18-29 vaccinated.
One in five positive tests in June were among people who reported being fully vaccinated, which Ferrer attributed to large scale intermingling of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Ferrer maintained that the mask mandate, re-instituted on July 18, will also slow the spread of COVID. The mandate requires residents to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
“Hopefully people can go ahead and comply with our request to keep their masks on, whether they’re vaccinated or not,” she said.
Ferrer said the County’s goals during the next two weeks include allaying fears about the safety of the vaccine, continuing to get residents vaccinated and continuing to have people wears masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
“The task right now is to get out good information about the vaccine’s safety and accelerate the pace of getting the vaccine into everyone’s arms,” she said. “For those people who are unvaccinated, not wearing a mask, this virus will find you.”
In spite of the spike in cases, Ferrer said she was not prepared to recommend a county-wide vaccine mandate, or even a mandate among first-responders, until after the Food and Drug Administration approves one or more of the vaccines currently in use.
“Right now, the task is building that confidence in the vaccines and getting people vaccinated,” she said.