Plexiglass dividers at grocery stores (Photo – @ChickenSpaz)
COVID-19 is surging in Los Angeles County’s workplaces including grocery stores, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities.
By News Desk
The largest increase is in warehouses, manufacturing facilities and logistics companies. n just over a month, outbreaks at these worksites increased from 9 per week (November 1) to 44 per week (December 6,) nearly a fivefold increase.
Schools and Daycare centers
L.A. County has also experienced an increase in outbreaks in schools and daycare settings. Starting in the middle of November, outbreaks increased from about 20 outbreaks to a total of 70 outbreaks by mid-December. And while almost all the outbreaks were small and well-contained, dozens of staff and a small number of students were affected.
These increases reflect a pattern of transmission: from worksite to home and back to worksites. As the percentage of people who are positive with COVID-19 increase, there is a larger pool of infected people walking around without symptoms who now expose a greater and greater percentage of people to this virus.
Resources for employees
Employees with concerns about a workplace not following safety protocols can anonymously call the L.A. County’s customer call center at (888) 700-9995, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. (To report violations online, visit: publichealth.lacounty.gov).
Employees are reminded to stay home if they begin to develop symptoms and call their medical provider. If they test positive, and may have exposed others, they are urged to call the contact tracing team, 833-641-0305.
Employers are urged to avoid the risk of having their business closed and take all the infection control measures outlined on the County’s Public Health website.
Wednesday cases and deaths
The County Department of Public Health confirmed 281 new deaths and 14,564 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2020. To date, Public Health identified 958,497 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 12,955 deaths.
There are 7,949 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 22% of these people are in the ICU. With 14,000 or more people testing positive every day, we can predict with a fair amount of accuracy that 10 -12% of those who test positive will become sick enough to require hospitalization.
Vaccinations
As of today, more than 194,000 ‘first doses’ of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered as part of Phase 1A. In addition, more than 44,000 ‘second doses’ have been administered. Vaccination sites are open to healthcare workers in Phase 1A. (Healthcare workers can register for an appointment and must show job verification when showing up for their vaccine). The registration system for these five large-capacity vaccination centers for healthcare workers opened today. (Visit the healthcare worker signup).
The current goal is to complete vaccinations of frontline healthcare workers and staff and residents at skilled nursing facilities by the end of January. As the County completes Phase 1A, the County will start the vaccinations for groups of Phase 1B (65 and older).
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