Public Health Urges Residents to Curtail Holiday Celebrations

With cases almost doubling in 2 days, and just about 1 out of every 4 people testing positive, Public Health urges everyone to minimize the risk of transmitting the virus by not hosting or attending large gatherings over this upcoming holiday weekend.

Indoor parties, in particular, create significant risk as this virus can be spread through aerosolized droplets. Older individuals, those with underlying health conditions, and those who are immunocompromised should take additional precautions by not attending indoor gatherings with non-household members during this surge.

Evidence suggests that only those who have recently completed their vaccination series or are boosted have significant protection from becoming infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant. This leaves millions of people across LA County vulnerable to COVID infection.

“The days ahead will be extraordinarily challenging for all us as we face extraordinarily high case numbers reflecting widespread transmission of the virus. In order to make sure that people are able to work and attend school, we all need to act responsibly,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “With explosive transmission likely to continue for some weeks to come, all efforts now need to focus on protecting our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed. Since most people in our hospitals with serious illness from COVID are unvaccinated, those not yet vaccinated or boosted need to please stay away from others as much as possible to avoid getting infected or infecting others. And while vaccines and boosters continue to offer excellent protection against severe illness and death, those most vulnerable to serious consequences should they become infected (including children under 5 not yet able to get vaccinated) need to be surrounded by additional layers of protection. This includes wearing tight fitting and high-quality masks when around others and limiting non-essential activities.”

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today released the latest data on COVID-19.

• 27,091 new COVID-19 cases (1,696,582 cases to date)

• 12 new deaths due to COVID-19 (27,637 deaths to date)

• 1,365 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19

• More than 10,043,000 individuals tested; 15% of people tested positive to date