Los Angeles County continues to see a rapid increase in the transmissible BA.2 version of Covid-19. According to the most recent data, 32% local positive Covid test results that were subjected to laboratory sequencing as of March 12th, the result of BA.2.
During the week ending March 5, 16.7% of sequenced cases were found to be BA.2, meaning that the variant’s share of new cases very nearly doubled in just 7 days. The final week of February, BA.2 accounted for 6.3% of new cases, which means that the variant’s share of infections more than doubled the week before, also.
Due to the rapid growth of BA.2 in Other regions where it took root earlier — such as the U.K., South Africa, Singapore, India and the Northeast United States — it’s likely that in the 2 weeks since the newest numbers were tallied it has become dominant in L.A., as well.
In fact, this week’s CDC data map shows that’s the case in the three state region comprised of California, Nevada and Arizona. Below is the graphic.
However, the spread of this highly infectious variant has not led to an increase in virus-related hospitalizations in the U.S., according to health officials. This is likely due to the relatively large number of Americans who have been vaccinated.
Barbara Ferrer, L.A. Public Health Director, stated today that only 3% of all visits to emergency rooms in Los Angeles County are Covid-related as of Sunday. That’s a long, long way from the bad old days at the end of 2021.
“Despite the BA.2 increases that we’re starting to see, they’re not resulting yet in increases in Covid-19 emergency department visits,”She spoke.
However, the county is now seeing a steady decline in the number of cases that it has received over the past few weeks. The county currently receives an average of 660 cases per days.
“The rate of decline has been slower, and this week we’re not seeing any declines in the cases,”Ferrer.
She added that it’s too early to call that leveling-off a “concern,”She called it “notable.”
“At some point we knew that it was likely we were going to stop declining,”Ferrer. “We know there’s still transmission…Personally, I wish we were at a lower level when we’re doing this plateauing, but we have seen a significant decrease, and that’s the good news.”
She also mentioned that the recent lifting Covid restrictions such as indoor masking, may have contributed to the slowing of the declining rate. Friday’s county and state will both lift the negative test verification and vaccination requirements for indoor mega events like concerts and sporting events.
“Every single time we have reduced the restrictions or levels of protection that are required, we have always seen an uptick (in cases),”Ferrer, observed. “The slowing of the decline can also be seen in some ways as an uptick.”
On Thursday, the county reported 784 new Covid deaths and 16 more virus-related deaths.
On Thursday, the average daily rate for people who tested positive for the disease was 1.1%. This was up from 0.7% over the previous few weeks. On Wednesday, the rate was 0.9%.
On Thursday, the number of Covid-positive hospital patients fell to 308, down from 325 on Wednesday. 47 patients were admitted to intensive care on Thursday, down from 51 one day earlier.
According to County statistics 71% of all county residents had been fully vaccinated. The lowest percentage of vaccines among any age group is 31% for children aged 5-11.
City News Service contributed this report.