Los Angeles County reported 4,860 new cases of COVID-19 and 193 additional deaths on Saturday, confirming nine new cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
The number of coronavirus patients in provincial hospitals was 4,607, of which 28% in intensive care.
The latest figures brought the county’s totals since the pandemic began to 1,143,422 cases and 17,955 fatalities, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The latest cases of MIS-C bring the total number of infected children in the province to 75, including one death. MIS-C is an inflammatory condition related to COVID-19 and symptoms include fever that does not go away and inflamed parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
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All 75 children with MIS-C in LA County were hospitalized and 44% were treated in the ICU. Of the 75, 32% were younger than 5 years, 39% were between 5 and 11 years and 29% were between 12 and 20 years. Latino children represent 76% of reported cases, the department said.
Daily new infections and hospital admissions have been steadily declining over the past month, but officials are warning the public to be careful ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl to avoid a repeat of last year’s World Series and NBA Finals when Meetings in bars, restaurants and private homes have been blamed for fueling a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Despite seeing some declines, we continue to experience widespread community transmission in our province,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “The most risky thing people can do tomorrow for Super Bowl Sunday, given our high rate of cases, is get together with others and don’t live with them to enjoy the game. Please don’t go to or host parties that Super Bowl Sunday in superspreader. Sunday can change. Instead, enjoy the game at home with those who live with you or virtually connect with friends and family online to avoid another wave of cases. ”
Meanwhile, district officials reported slow but steady progress in COVID-19 vaccination efforts on Friday, but said less than 3% of the population is fully vaccinated and it will be difficult to make appointments for the first doses next week.
At the five large-scale vaccination centers operated by the county, a limited number of first doses will be administered on Monday, with the remainder of weekly appointments reserved exclusively for people who need their second dose of the drug, said Dr. Simon, chief. science officer of the county’s health department.
Simon said that while the problem only affects the province’s five megasites, residents in other locations may run into problems as all providers are facing vaccine shortages.
“Unfortunately, the biggest problem we still face with our vaccination capacity is the scarcity of supply and the variability in the amount of vaccine we receive from week to week,” said Simon. “This is a problem across the country and it makes planning a challenge.”
According to Simon, the most recent figures indicate that more than 1.05 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province to date, including just over 104,000 second doses. This means that 2.6% of the county’s population aged 16 and over has been fully vaccinated so far. About 11% of the population aged 16 and over has received at least one dose.
The slow progress of the vaccination program has led some residents to become creative in finding ways to manipulate the appointment scheduling system to access the recordings.
Some people who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine have hung up on the vaccination sites because of the small chance that there will be doses left over at the end of the day that will need to be administered to avoid wastage. Ferrer said this week that there have been issues with people claiming to be caregivers of disabled children showing up on vaccination sites with a generic, Xeroxed letter identifying them as such.
The Supreme Court has lifted California’s ban on religious services indoors. The judges ruled that Governor Gavin Newsoms’ strict orders violate the constitution that protects the free exercise of religion. Video broadcast Saturday, February 6, 2021 on Today in LA.
Simon outlined a different way some people have tried to jump the line to get vaccines. According to Simon, people who received emails from the county about scheduling an appointment for a second dose of the vaccine shared the unique web link in the emails with friends. These people “schedule an appointment for the first dose, even though they are not eligible for vaccination at the moment.”
“It is important for people to understand that these actions are denying access to vaccination for people at high risk who are currently eligible for the vaccine,” said Simon. “When we identify these appointments, they will be canceled. . the public to be aware that individuals who do not qualify and appear on any of our sites with any of these shared engagements will be rejected. “
He said he had no figures on how many people have tried to cross the line that way, but “it happened enough that we noticed it very clearly.”
As COVID-19 continues to devastate communities of color, health experts are examining the role of racism in vaccine reluctance. Beverly White will report for NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Feb. 5, 2021.
“In some cases it has been done very on purpose – I think you could characterize it as a fraud,” he said. just watch every opportunity to get vaccinated. ”
Simon said the county was trying to find a way to change the computer system to prevent such arrangements from being made.
According to Simon, the province received 184,625 doses of vaccine this week, and Ferrer said earlier this week that the province expects a larger allocation next week, possibly more than 200,000, but the size of the week-to-week shipments remains a mystery.
Simon expressed hope that supplies would continue to increase and praised the forthcoming establishment of a Federal Emergency Management Agency vaccination center in Cal State Los Angeles, which will complement local availability of doses. The possible approval of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming weeks will also be a big boon, he said.