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Los Angeles County officials continue to report a drop in new coronavirus cases, but say the emergence of a more transmissible and potentially more virulent variant underscores the importance of sticking to safety measures such as the masking and distancing.
Public health officials on Saturday recorded 2,393 new cases of the virus and 136 related deaths, along with two more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK which has since spread to at least 42 US states. Experts predict it will become the dominant coronavirus nationwide by the end of March. This is a cause for concern as it is believed to be 50% more transmissible than the conventional variety and may also be more deadly.
Los Angeles County has now recorded a total of 14 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, but experts said there were likely more, as only a small portion of the samples undergo the genetic sequencing necessary to determine the variant. The variant has also been reported in Alameda, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo and Yolo counties.
Although research has indicated that vaccines on the market remain effective against variant B.1.1.7, some officials have expressed concerns that its contagiousness may fuel another outbreak, especially if a full vaccination campaign is slow to materialize. deploy and people get tired and ignore the audience. safety rules.
“We must remain diligent with our safety measures even as we see an overall decrease in cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” Barbara Ferrer, LA County director of public health, said in a statement. “Let’s keep our guard because we know that lowering our guard will lead to more cases and, tragically, even more deaths.”
As of Friday, 2,369 COVID-19 patients were in LA County hospitals, a drop of nearly 44% from two weeks earlier, when there were 4,186 patients.
Orange County reported a similar downward trend, recording 391 new cases of the virus, 44 deaths and 591 hospital patients on Saturday, a drop of about 46% from two weeks earlier.
It comes as harsh winter conditions elsewhere in the country disrupted the delivery of tens of thousands of doses of Moderna vaccine to California, forcing large distribution sites run by the city of Los Angeles, as well as some in the counties of Orange and San Diego, to suspend operations. and postpone the meetings initially planned for this weekend.
Officials said Thursday afternoon that weather delays have yet to disrupt operations at LA County-run vaccination sites, and city-run mobile distribution sites that are reaching hard-hit areas. affected had also remained operational.
About 250 front-line grocery, pharmacy, and meat-packing workers were scheduled to be vaccinated Saturday afternoon at a pop-up clinic in the parking lot of the offices of United Food Workers Local 770 and trade in Koreatown. The clinic, run in partnership with the state, was a satellite of the new mass vaccination site in Cal State Los Angeles, the union said in a press release.
About 500 additional vaccinations were due to be given on Saturday at a Boyle Heights clinic for Eastside and South Los Angeles residents 65 and older held by USC’s Keck Medicine. The effort was aimed at increasing access to vaccines for members of the neighboring community, who are largely Latino and black, and included door-to-door outreach and a pick-up from public housing apartments near Ramona. Gardens, USC said.
Public health officials believe such awareness is important to alleviate the disparity that has seen Latino and black residents receive vaccinations at significantly lower rates than whites and Asian Americans, despite death rates. higher due to the virus.
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