Los Angeles County's been posting more than 1,000 new cases a day for nearly a week now.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers transmission in LA and in Riverside and San Diego counties as "substantial."
Amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, LA County plans to reimplement a mask mandate starting Saturday night.
Statewide, the average percentage of people testing positive has tripled in a little more than three weeks.
The numbers are nowhere near as bad as what we saw during the winter surge, but increases are speeding up.
In LA County, about 61 percent of residents 16 and older are fully vaccinated, but millions more have yet to get jabbed.
Supervisor Hilda Solis says historical trauma, including forced sterilizations targeting Latinas, creates a lot of distrust in some communities.
“We have to dispel that, and part of our effort will be to utilize community health workers like promotoras to also help us when we go out in the community and talk to people, knock on doors in a friendly manner, telling them about resources available," said Solis.
"This is as a prevention tool.”
With the start of the school year approaching, public health officials are urging eligible students to begin the vaccination process as soon as possible.