L.A. County hits high COVID-19 community level as possible mask mandate looms

[pstokely]

Source: LA Times

Los Angeles County has again entered the high COVID-19 community level, further indication that the continuing spike in cases is starting to exert pressure on the region’s hospitals.

Should hospitalization rates continue to rise this month, the county could be on track for a renewed universal mask order in indoor public settings. But it’s uncertain when such a rule might be handed down — or whether one will materialize at all.

L.A. County has already met one of two criteria that would trigger a new mandate: a relatively high rate of new coronavirus-positive hospitalizations. The county is now reporting 14.8 new coronavirus-positive hospitalizations a week for every 100,000 residents; a rate of 10 or more is considered particularly worrisome.

The second focuses on the share of staffed hospital beds occupied by coronavirus-positive patients. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6.9% of L.A. County’s staffed hospital beds are being used by coronavirus-infected patients, up from 2% at the start of November. However, that figure would need to be 10% or greater for a mask mandate to be on the table.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-08/l-a-county-hits-high-covid-19-community-level

---

I am the only one who still cares? and I'm in a blue area of red state where most are maskless. Even some here don't care anymore

[SunSeeker]

1. I still wear a mask indoors around the public. I avoid crowded indoor spaces.

In California, it's easy to find pleasant outdoor seating at restaurants, and I do it whenever friends suggest getting together for a meal.

So whether or not there's a mask mandate, I'm still masking up and taking precautions.

My idiot father, unvaxxed at 82, has had a terrible cough for a week now. He is finally going to the doctor tomorrow and will get a chest xray.

[forgotmylogin]

3. I had covid last week.

Since I'd had three shots, it was basically 3 days of awful then a bad headcold that went away in a week. It never moved into my lungs.

Are the people going to hospitals going for that anti-viral treatment, or are they serious hospitalizations...are we back to people being intubated?

[SunSeeker]

7. The anti-virals help, but not everyone.

And some of the monoclonal antibody treatments that were so helpful with the initial strains are so useless against Omicrom that the FDA has pulled their emergency use authorization. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eli-lillys-covid-drug-bebtelovimab-not-currently-authorized-us-says-fda-2022-11-30/

If you're not vaxxed with the newest bivalent booster against Omicron, you're risking a lot...maybe your life.

Glad you're OK.

[riversedge]

2. Folks should be wearing masks already IMHO in this county.

[Blues Heron]

4. New weekly US CDC numbers - 50 percent increase from previous week

Week ending - new US cases

12/07 - 458,986
11/30 - 306,773
11/23 - 305,082
11/16 - 281,691
11/09 - 290,879
11/02 - 274,451
10/26 - 262,483
10/19 - 261,423


https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklycases_select_00

[NullTuples]

9. Almost looks like Thanksgiving was a problem after all?

[Lulu KC]

5. You are not alone

I also live in a blue part of a red state and I'm usually the only one with a mask. I'm seeing more of them in doctor's offices on staff members and much older patients, but that's about it.

[iluvtennis]

6. I still mask up in indoor settings. Ppl look at me like I'm from Mars, but I don't give a fk. n/t

[LenaBaby61]

13. THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

[NullTuples]

8. Any day now they'll announce...

...that once some threshold is reached that shows conclusively that the spread rate is already out of control, they'll consider imposing mask mandates at the end of the year.

[progree]

10. Interesting: New York state is almost in the same boat as LA County, New York City worse

with several New York state counties being significantly worse (particularly the New York City area counties), and several being better. New York City has 18% more daily new cases per 100k than LA County, and double the hospitalization and daily new death rates.

Per 100,000 population, 7 day averages

New                New
York  LA          York
State County   City
=== ===== =====
32       38         45     Daily new cases
19       11         22     Hospitalizations
.03       .09       .19     Daily deaths

U.S.: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
New York: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/new-york-covid-cases.html
California and Los Angeles County: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/california-covid-cases.html
No paywall, no quota

In above, cases are reported cases. Of course, these are a small fraction of total cases

[beaglelover]

11. Is NY considering bring back a mask mandate?

[BigmanPigman]

12. I have the feeling I'll be one of the few

who will wearing an N95 at a holiday party I was invited to since NOBODY in San Diego seems to wearing a mask indoors these days.