Los Angeles County reported 4,860 new cases of COVID-19 and 193 additional deaths on Saturday, and confirmed nine new cases of multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children.
The number of coronavirus patients in municipal hospitals was 4,607, with 28% of people in intensive care units.
The latest figures brought county totals since the pandemic began to 1,143,422 cases and 17,955 deaths, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The latest MIS-C cases bring the total number of infected children in the county to 75, including one death. MIS-C is an inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 and symptoms include fever that does not go away and inflamed body parts, including 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 under 5 years old, 39% were between 5 and 11 years old and 29% were between 12 and 20 years old. Latino children account for 76% of reported cases, the department said.
The daily number of new infections and the hospitalization rate have been steadily falling over the past month, but officials are warning the public to exercise caution in Sunday’s Super Bowl to avoid a repeat of last year’s World Series and NBA finals when there are meetings in bars, restaurants and private homes were responsible for the increase in cases of COVID-19.
“Despite seeing some declines, we continue to have widespread transmission from the community in our county,” said public health director Barbara Ferrer. “The riskiest thing that people can do tomorrow for Super Bowl Sunday, due to our high number of cases, is to get together with others who don’t live with them to enjoy the game. Don’t participate or promote parties that can transform Super Bowl Sunday on a super-broadcast Sunday. Instead, enjoy the game at home with those who live with you, or virtually connect with friends and family online to avoid another increase in cases. “
Meanwhile, county officials reported slow but steady progress on COVID-19 vaccination efforts on Friday, but said less than 3% of the population had been fully vaccinated, and appointments for the first few doses will be difficult to happen next week.
At the five large-scale vaccination sites operated by the county, a limited number of first doses will be administered on Monday, with the rest of the week’s appointments reserved exclusively for people who need their second dose of the drug, according to Dr Paul Simon, director of sciences for the county health department.
Simon said that while the problem applies only to the county’s five mega-locations, residents may experience problems elsewhere, as all suppliers deal with insufficient vaccine supplies.
“Unfortunately, the biggest problem we continue to face in our ability to vaccinate is the scarcity of supply and the variability in the amount of vaccine we receive from week to week,” said Simon. “This has been a problem across the country and makes planning a challenge.”
According to Simon, the latest figures indicate that more than 1.05 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the county to date, including just over 104,000 secondary doses. This means that 2.6% of the county’s population of people aged 16 and over has been fully vaccinated so far. About 11% of the population aged 16 or older received at least one dose.
The slow progress of the vaccination program has caused some residents to become creative in finding ways to manipulate the appointment system to gain access to vaccines.
Some people who are not yet qualified to receive the vaccine have now stayed in the vaccination sites with little chance of excess doses at the end of the day that must be administered to avoid waste. Ferrer said this week that there were problems with people who claim to be caregivers of disabled children and who came to vaccination sites with a generic xerox letter identifying them as such.
The Supreme Court lifted California’s ban on closed religious services. Judges ruled that Governor Gavin Newsoms’ strict orders violate the constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion. The video was broadcast on Saturday, February 6, 2021 on Today in LA.
Simon described another way that some people tried to skip 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 are sharing with friends the exclusive link included in the emails. These people “are then scheduling an appointment for the first dose, although they are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time”.
“It is important for people to understand that these actions are taking access to vaccination from high-risk people who are eligible for the vaccine now,” said Simon. “When we identify these consultations, they are being canceled. the public should be aware that people who are not eligible and appear on one of our sites with one of these shared commitments will be rejected. “
He said he had no figures on how many people tried to skip the line in this way, but “it was happening enough that we could clearly understand”.
As COVID-19 continues to devastate communities of color, health experts are examining the role of racism in reluctance to vaccine. Beverly White reports to NBC4 News at 11:00 pm on February 5, 2021.
“In some cases, it was done very deliberately – I think you could characterize it as cheating, ” he said.” And in other cases, I think people just, you know, weren’t necessarily looking at it that way, they were just looking at every opportunity to get vaccinated. ”
Simon said the county is trying to find a way to fix the computer system to prevent such appointments from being made.
According to Simon, the county received 184,625 doses of the vaccine this week, and Ferrer said earlier this week that the county expects a larger distribution next week, possibly more than 200,000, but the size of the weekly shipments remains a mystery.
Simon expressed hope that supplies will continue to increase and welcomed the pending establishment of a Federal Emergency Management Agency vaccination site in Cal State, Los Angeles, which will complement the local availability of doses. The possible approval in the coming weeks of the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine will also be of great benefit, he said.