In net numbers, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer reported another 2,335 COVID infections in the county on Thursday. The average daily number of new cases recorded by the county in the last seven days rose to 1,764, from 1,261 last week, he said. The average daily number of cases is about three times the number it was a month ago, Ferrer said. It also saw small but steady increases last week in the number of COVID-19 positives in county hospitals. The number rose to 249 on Thursday, from 235 on Wednesday. The number of patients admitted to the intensive care unit was 30, from 28 the previous day. Ferrer noted that these numbers are still relatively low compared to the winter growth figures of more than 8,000. It has credited extensive vaccination, treatment and immunity from previous infection to prevent infected people from being hospitalized. Health officials have warned in recent weeks that rising numbers of cases may actually be higher than the numbers reflected in test results – as many people take home tests and may not report results in the county. And many others may not get tested at all because they are not seriously ill. Hoping to address these errors, the county is monitoring COVID concentrations in four sewer systems across the area. The latest results show that the average concentration of the virus found in most of these systems has risen sharply, with two of them almost doubled from two weeks ago and a third showing a sharp rise. But the fourth system monitored actually showed a slight decrease. “This suggests that Community transmission is increasing in the areas covered by these sewer systems,” Ferrer said. There were also increases in cases in homeless shelters and specialized nursing facilities, along with previously noted increases in cases among students and school staff after the spring break. According to Ferrer, the infectious subtype BA.2 of COVID-19 is now responsible for 88% of the local cases that underwent specific screening for variants. BA.2 has been blamed for increasing the number of infections locally and nationally, with officials saying it is explicitly more contagious than the micron variant that fueled the winter increase in cases. But now, there is another variation to worry about. Experts had previously identified a branch of BA.2 called BA.2.12.1 and it is now rapidly increasing in adhesion. This new branch was found in 7% of Los Angeles County infections tested in the week ending April 9 – up from 3% the previous week. Ferrer said state officials have estimated that BA.2.12.1 could account for half of all infections in California in a matter of days. He said that experts have estimated that BA.2.12.1 is about 20% to 30% more contagious than BA.2. “He could quickly become the dominant figure in the United States,” Ferrer said, noting that the new branch has been found to account for 58% of all cases tested in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. It is still unknown whether BA.2.12.1 causes a more serious illness or may be more resistant to vaccines. The 2,335 new cases reported on Thursday increased the county’s total number from across the pandemic to 2,869,785. Eight more virus-related deaths were also reported on Thursday, bringing the county’s death toll from the virus to 31,959. The average daily percentage of people who tested positive for the virus was 1.8% on Thursday. Copyright © 2022 by City News Service, Inc. All rights reserved.
