Los Angeles County appears to have avoided spikes in COVID cases after Halloween, the health director says

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Los Angeles County reported 1,876 new cases of COVID-19 and 26 additional deaths related to the virus on Saturday.

The latest numbers brought the county’s cumulative totals to 1,518,732 cases and 26,999 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus patients in Los Angeles County’s hospitals fell by 11 more to 573 a day after falling below the 600 mark. Of those patients, 149 were in intensive care, according to the state 144 on Friday.

The moving average daily rate of people who tested positive for the virus was 0.9% on Friday.

Health officials at local and national levels continue to fear an increase in the upcoming winter holidays and colder weather, leading to more indoor gatherings.

77 Los Angeles employees on unpaid vacation after refusing to vaccinate against COVID

On Thursday, County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted that the county appeared to have avoided any surge in post-Halloween cases, and attributed that success to higher numbers of residents and other precautionary measures.

However, she said the number of cases is rising in many western countries and Europe, which is an early warning of what could come if people lax about virus prevention.

On Friday, Ferrer urged residents to get booster vaccinations.

“While the vaccines continue to offer significant protection against the virus, the data now shows that the effectiveness of the vaccine decreases so much over time that it is important to receive an extra dose to provide better protection against the virus “She said the booster doses currently available to anyone who received their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago or a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago, it is important that medical staff and.” The individuals they care for take advantage of easy access to these additional doses.

“With 4.8 million people eligible for boosters, we hope many more people will take this extra dose before the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Ferrer said Thursday that the latest figures show unvaccinated people are nine times more likely to be infected than vaccinated people and 67 times more likely to be hospitalized.

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