With the coronavirus spreading quickly and taking hospitals to a critical point, Los Angeles County officials are recommending more security measures – going so far as to urge some residents to wear masks inside their homes.
The concern, says the top LA county health official, is the danger it poses to vulnerable residents when those they live with work outside the home, go shopping or perform other essential tasks.
Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for the county, asked the public on Monday to stay at home as long as possible. When leaving home to access essential services, she said, people should bring baby wipes to disinfect their cell phones, car keys, workstations and door handles – anything they can touch and others have touched.
Ferrer also issued a new recommendation: people who live with elderly residents or have a latent medical condition and need to leave the house should wear a mask at home.
“As there is so much diffusion, we also recommend that people maintain facial coverage while they are indoors,” said Ferrer. For those who work outside or are the person who performs essential tasks in the family, wearing a mask at home “will only add a layer of protection as we go through the wave”.
People should also make sure that frequently touched surfaces are cleaned, utensils are not shared and, if possible, that rooms and bathrooms are not shared with the most vulnerable.
“This is the time to be extremely cautious and very careful,” said Ferrer. “We cannot relieve our efforts just yet – not now, and not in the coming weeks. Every minute, 10 people in LA County, on average, test positive for COVID-19. ”
Urgent warnings come amid a postnatal coronavirus outbreak. In the past week, an average of more than 200 angelenos died every day from COVID-19 – a rate that pushed the cumulative number from the county’s past 12,000.
Last week, county health officials offered these safety recommendations:
• If you are going to work or buy groceries, never try to remove the cover from your face when you are around other people.
• Avoid eating or drinking with someone outside your home.
• Wash or disinfect your hands every hour if you are around other people.
• Take a break from shopping.
• Do not go to any meetings with people outside your home.
• Practice exercises alone or just with other people in your home.
Also last week, the state told Californians to avoid traveling anywhere more than 120 miles from their homes, unless that is essential.
Travelers from other states or countries are also “strongly discouraged” from coming to California, except for essential purposes.
The state defines such essential travel as any “associated with the operation, maintenance or use of critical infrastructure or otherwise required or expressly authorized by law … including work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health , immediate medical care and protection and safety. ”