COVID Cases No Longer Declining In LA: 'Don't Delay Booster Shots'

LOS ANGELES, CA — The number of new coronavirus cases each day is no longer declining in Los Angeles County, health officials announced Friday. Authorities are monitoring wastewater for coronavirus biomarkers for clues about what to expect next. In the meantime, residents shouldn't wait to get their next booster shot, the county's public health director said.

The county on Friday reported 1,167 new COVID infections, notably higher than the 784 reported on Thursday. Samples from wastewater treatment plants spread out across the county showed slight upticks in virus concentration in mid-March in the Western San Fernando Valley, central LA County, and West Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The highly infections BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19 is increasing its influence in the county, representing 32% of cases that underwent specialized laboratory sequencing to identify strains of the virus for the week ending March 12. That was nearly double the rate from the previous week, said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. She urged residents to stop putting off their booster shots.

“Evidence all over the world shows waning protection from the vaccines over time. People who are at higher risk, people who are older, people who have underlying health conditions: Don’t delay,” Ferrer told the Los Angeles Times. “I hear a lot [of] — ‘I’m just going to wait. I think there’s going to be something better. I don’t want to keep getting a shot every four months.’ But if there’s waning protection, and you can get a shot that actually boosts your protection, and you’re a person at higher or elevated risk, it makes sense to go ahead and get that booster dose.”

Even as health officials warn that the coronavirus remains a threat, the county on Friday lifted the requirement that attendees at indoor mega-events such as sporting events or concerts show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test.

It's the latest pandemic-era mandate to be lifted, following the recent scrapping of rules requiring people to wear masks indoors at most locations. Masks are also no longer required at outdoor mega-events or on school campuses.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed this week to drop its requirement that people show proof of vaccination to enter many indoor businesses.

Health officials have noted, however, that private businesses are entitled to enact their own virus-control measures if they desire, such as requiring masks or checking for vaccinations or negative tests.

Mask-wearing, while no longer mandated in most settings, is still strongly recommended by health officials. Masks also remain mandatory in select locations, such as health-care settings, aboard public transit and airplanes and in airports and transit centers.

Ferrer noted Thursday that whenever major public-health mandates are lifted, there tends to be an uptick in COVID infections as more people interact. She said that is being seen again now locally, with the county's weeks-long decline in COVID case numbers suddenly leveling off this week.

Since the pandemic began, the county has recorded a cumulative total of 2,834,317 infections.

But while case numbers have stopped their decline, hospitalizations of COVID-19-positive people are still falling -- with health officials crediting widespread vaccinations for preventing patients from falling seriously ill from infections.

On Friday, the number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals fell below the 300 mark for the first time since early July 2021, reaching 287, down from 308 a day earlier. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care was 47 as of Friday, the same as Thursday.

Another 16 virus-related deaths were reported Friday, raising the county's overall death toll to 31,683.

BA.2 has been driving up infection numbers in nations around the world, most notably Australia and parts of Europe.

Ferrer said the strain -- an offshoot of the Omicron variant that sparked the winter surge in cases likely accounts for an even higher percentage of cases locally, since the most recent figures were two weeks old. But she again stressed that the spread of BA.2 has not led to a rise in hospitalizations. The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 0.9% as of Friday, down from 1.1% on Thursday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.