Los Angeles County public health officials are asking residents to take some precautions with gatherings over the holiday weekend as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread locally.
“There’s still much we don’t know about this delta variant, including whether fully vaccinated people are capable of passing along the variant if they become infected,” says Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Ferrer says immunized people are well protected. The concern is for those who have yet to get jabbed. If your holiday get-together involves anyone who's unvaccinated or immunocompromised, keep it outdoors as much as possible and mask up when indoors.
“Our recommendation to wear masks indoors will help press pause on viral transmission while we learn more. We have enough risk and enough unvaccinated people for delta to pose a risk to our recovery,” says Ferrer.
The county just reported more than 500 new cases, the highest daily tally in months. The average test positivity rate has more than doubled since the economy fully reopened on June 15th.
And hospitalizations are inching up.
Overall, the numbers remain low but do indicate growing community transmission.
Ferrer says with about four million people in the county still unvaccinated, "another [COVID-19] wave could become a very real possibility."