LA COVID Cases Rising Ahead Of Holidays

As the year-end holidays approach, COVID-19 is sending more Angelenos to the emergency room and hospital.

Three weeks after the travel-heavy Thanksgiving holiday, area hospitals reported a daily average of 524 people in their care due to COVID, up from 462 last week, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Deaths increased to an average of two per day in the county, from 1.6 at the end of November. COVID now accounts for 3% of all deaths in the county, up from around 1% in late November.

Wastewater surveillance shows coronavirus levels rising three times higher in the last month to a level not seen since late September, when cases were declining after the late summer surge.

This week, the county reported wastewater concentrations that were 38% of those seen last year at the peak of the winter surge. This is up from 28% reported last week and 12% reported one month ago.

Nationally, the West Coast is experiencing lower COVID-19 metrics than the rest of the country, but that’s unlikely to continue for long based on previous winter seasons.

Last winter, hospitalizations tripled and deaths quadrupled between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1.

Public health officials are urging vigilance instead of alarm this season.

Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released a video last week, saying the agency hasn’t seen anything new this fall in terms of viruses or sickness. But Cohen recommended a handful of precautions, such as getting the updated COVID-19 vaccine, this season’s influenza vaccine and the RSV vaccine for those over the age of 60 or who are pregnant.

She urged people to order free at-home COVID tests, especially in advance of the year-end holidays, and to consider other preventative measures, including regular hand washing, staying away from people who are sick, opening windows for ventilation and wearing a mask.

“If you do get sick, I know it’s hard, but stay home so you don’t spread germs to others,” Cohen says in the video. “And get tested so you know what you have and you can get treatment. Getting tested and treated early can prevent you from getting severely ill, getting hospitalized and potentially save your life.”

Research shows that vaccination also helps to prevent long COVID or ongoing health problems that continue or emerge after a bout of COVID-19. A recent survey of Californians found that one in five people who have had COVID-19 now have long COVID, defined by the study as symptoms lasting three months or longer.