LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Los Angeles County set another daily record with 45,584 positive COVID-19 tests Sunday, continuing a winter surge in transmission driven by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
On Friday, health officials reported a then-record 43,712 new infections, and on Saturday, they said the county had seen more than 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 7 days, the highest number in one week since the beginning of the pandemic.
The record numbers seem driven in part by increased testing. The county's rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 20.6%, up from 20.4% on Saturday but down from 22.7% last Monday.
Overall, 10,317,000 individuals have been tested, with 18% of people testing positive to date, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The department also reported an additional 13 deaths associated with the virus Sunday, bringing the county's cumulative totals to 1,967,443 cases and 27,785 fatalities since the pandemic began.
The deaths may reflect an undercount in weekend reporting.
Officials are urging residents to reconsider attending high-risk activities, including indoor activities where individuals are unmasked for long periods of time and crowded outdoor events.
"As the surge continues, we ask residents and businesses to continue following the public health safety measures that we know reduce spread and keep people safe," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Saturday. "This includes wearing a medical grade mask that is more protective against the omicron variant and not spending time around others who are unmasked. These upgraded masks can be a surgical mask or an N95 or KN95 respirator mask."
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals climbed to 3,364, according to the latest state figures. The number of those patients in intensive care was 435 — up from 411 Saturday, 391 Friday and 352 Thursday.
Many of the COVID-positive patients entered the hospital for another reason and only discovered they had the coronavirus after a mandated test, according to local officials. And while still well short of the peak hospitalization numbers seen last winter — when more than 8,000 COVID-positive patients filled hospitals — the rising number is still generating concern. Health care facilities are finding themselves increasingly short-staffed, in part because of COVID infections among health care workers.
According to the county health department, 973 infections among health care workers were reported over the past week, a jump of 47% from the prior period. That rise comes despite the relatively high rate of vaccinations among health care workers — showing the power of the omicron variant of the virus to infect even vaccinated residents, although they are less likely to become severely ill.
The state is requiring all health care workers in the state to receive a booster dose of vaccine by Feb. 1. Those who do not receive the booster must be tested twice weekly.
"Keeping health care workers safe is critical to maintaining functionality across our health care facilities when surges lead to staffing shortages and rising rates of hospitalizations," Ferrer said on Friday. "Across multiple health care settings, our health care personnel have given their all and been fully vaccinated at high levels for many months."
"Every resident can also do their part to protect our health care personnel and hospitals. Please get vaccinated or boosted as soon as possible if eligible. Vaccinated individuals are between 10 and 30 times less likely to need hospital care than those unvaccinated. We ask that you do not go to the emergency room unless you need care for a serious medical concern and please do not call 911 unless you have a life-threatening emergency."
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday unveiled a proposed $2.7 billion COVID- 19 emergency response package as part of his next budget proposal, including a $1.4 billion emergency appropriation request to bolster testing capacity, accelerate vaccination and booster efforts, support frontline workers, strengthen the health care system and "battle misinformation."
On Friday, Newsom announced the activation of the California National Guard to help provide additional testing facilities and capacity amid the national surge in cases driven by the omicron variant.
The announcement comes as omicron continues to spread rapidly across the globe, accounting for at least 80% of COVID-19 cases in California.
On Monday, a new drive-thru COVID-19 testing center will open in the City of Industry at the Industry Hills Expo Center at 16200 Temple Ave. The site will feature multiple lanes with a capacity of up to 1,000 vehicles and will offer dual COVID-19 PCR and Influenza A and B (flu virus) test results. The COVID site will conduct testing Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Jan. 31.
Appointments are strongly encouraged and can be made online at www.TotalTestingSolutions.com.
Another new COVID testing site opened this weekend in Santa Monica — in the former Sears building at 302 Colorado Ave. — with the capacity to test up to 1,920 people daily.
Long Beach — which has its own health department separate from the county — announced an expanded drive-thru and walk-up testing site that will open Monday in the former Boeing parking lot near 3590 E. Wardlow Road. That site will have the capacity to test 3,000 people a day.
Surging infection numbers have prompted LA County to amend its public health order, requiring employers to provide upgraded masks to employees who work indoors in close contact with others. The order will take effect Jan. 17 and requires employers to provide affected workers with "well-fitting medical grade masks, surgical masks, or higher-level respirators, such as N95 or KN95 masks."
The revised order also amended the definition of outdoor "mega events," where masking is required, to 5,000 or more attendees; and the definition of indoor "mega" events to 500 or more people. The numbers align with those in the state's health order. The county's order also "recommends" that food and drink be consumed only in designated dining areas.
The upgraded mask requirement for county workplaces mirrors an order released by the county for K-12 schools, requiring teachers and staff to wear higher-grade face coverings. USC announced this week it will require all students and staff to wear higher-grade masks when in-person classes resume.
According to county figures released Thursday, of the more than 6.4 million fully vaccinated people in the county, 199,314 have tested positive for the virus, for a rate of 3.1%, and 3,348 were hospitalized, for a rate of 0.05%. A total of 625 fully vaccinated people have died, for a rate of 0.01%.
However, the testing-positivity rate may be artificially low due to the number of people who use take-home tests and don't report the results.
Overall, 79% of eligible county residents ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 71% are fully vaccinated. Of the county's overall population of 10.3 million people, 75% have received at least one dose, and 67% are fully vaccinated.