No COVID-19 Post-Labor Day Spike In LA

Los Angeles County did not see a surge in COVID-19 cases associated with the Labor Day holiday weekend, county health officials said Monday.

"Everybody predicted that we would, in fact, see a surge after the Labor Day holiday, and we didn't,” said county health director Barbara Ferrer.

She credits residents who took precautions such as avoiding large groups and wearing face coverings.

“That's in part because people took actions to make sure we didn't see that surge,” Ferrer said.

The county has previously seen spikes after holidays. Crowded beaches and backyard barbeques during Memorial Day and the Fourth of July holidays led to thousands of new infections and deaths in the following weeks. Ferrer cautioned that an increase linked to Labor Day is still possible, but at this point is unlikely to lead to a spike.

In more good news, COVID case numbers are down for every age group in the county. However, people under the age of 49 who are more likely to work outside the home or run errands continue to make up the majority of newly reported cases.

Fewer people are currently hospitalized due to the virus, but Ferrer stressed the majority of them are not elderly.

“When you do the math, almost 70% of people recently hospitalized are under the age of 65,” she said.

Ferrer cautioned that age alone doesn’t protect people from risk — young adults have high rates of underlying health conditions that make them vulnerable to severe COVID infections.

“Over half the people with asthma, and over half the people who are obese are between the ages of 18 and 49. And one quarter of the people with diabetes are in these younger age groups,” she said.

The majority of COVID deaths have been among older people, but recently there’s been an uptick in deaths and hospitalizations among young adults in their 20s.

OVERALL LOOK AT LA COUNTY NUMBERS:

Here's a look at longer-term trends in the county. To see more, visit our California COVID-19 Tracker and choose any California county that interests you. These numbers are current as of Sunday, Sept. 27:

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• SAFETY Is It Safe Out There?
• GOING PLACES What's Open & All The Rules
• WORK Getting Your Unemployment Money
• QUARANTINE/ISOLATION What To Do If You’re Sick — Or Might Be
• MASKS Confronting The Maskless (c/o An FBI Hostage Negotiator)
• MENTAL HEALTH Finding Mental Health Support

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