4,690 New COVID Cases, 16 New Deaths Since Saturday

April 25, 2022~With cases rising in LA County and across the country associated with the highly infectious BA.2 subvariant, getting vaccinated and boosted is an important strategy to prevent serious illness. The BA.2 subvariant now accounts for 84% of sequenced specimens in the County for the week ending April 2. This increase mirrors what we are seeing across the country, as this highly infectious subvariant has also been identified in 93% of cases across the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The average number of daily new cases reported over the last seven days increased to 1,553 compared to the 960 reported two weeks ago, an increase of 62%.  The seven-day case rate for Los Angeles County has now surpassed 100 new cases per 100,000 residents, indicating, once again, high rates of transmission. To date, the increases in case numbers have not translated to increases in severe illness, with hospitalizations and deaths remaining low and slightly decreasing. Over the last seven days, the average number of people hospitalized daily is 222, a 20% decrease from two weeks ago when the average number of people hospitalized over the previous seven days was 276. Deaths also saw a small decrease,  with the average number of daily reported deaths this past week at 10, a 28% decrease from two weeks ago when the average number of daily reported deaths over the previous seven days was 14. The lower numbers of hospitalizations and deaths reflect, in part, the continued strong protection provided by the vaccines against BA.2.  For the week ending April 8, unvaccinated people were three times more likely to be hospitalized compared to fully vaccinated residents, and six times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated and boosted. And the likelihood of dying was also 16 times higher for unvaccinated residents compared to residents who were fully vaccinated for the week ending April 1. Many residents still need their first round of vaccines and boosters. As of April 21, 75% percent of residents ages 5 and older are fully vaccinated and 54% of those eligible for a first booster dose have received their booster. That leaves about 1.6 million eligible residents still needing to get their first vaccination and about 2.8 million booster-dose eligible residents not benefiting from the extra protection of a booster dose. “As always, we extend our deepest sympathies to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one from COVID,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As the more infectious BA.2 dominates and contributes to the increase in cases in LA County, residents are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated and boosted if they are not up to date on their vaccinations.  Those who were recently infected with Omicron should consider getting vaccinated or boosted three months after their COVID infection since natural immunity is likely to have waned.  With recurring reports of new variants of concern, including sub-lineages of BA.2, we are relieved that the current approved vaccines protect the vaccinated person and those around the vaccinated individual from severe illness.” Today, Public Health reported 16 additional deaths and 1,069 cases for Monday, 1,593 cases for Sunday, and 2,028 cases for Saturday. Of the 16 new deaths reported today, one person was between the ages of 18-29, three people were between the ages of 50-64, seven were between the ages of 65-79, and five people were aged 80 years or older. Of the 16 newly reported deaths, 14 had underlying health conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 31,938. Public Health has reported a total of 2,864,284 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 1.4%. There are 230 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,826,800, individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.