COVID-19 testing center (Photo – Vincent De Groot)
On Jan. 7, 2022, L.A. County (including Pasadena and Long Beach) recorded 43,712 cases of COVID, setting a record for one day. This follows yesterday’s record number of over 37,000 cases.
By News Desk
As Public Health continues to respond to this latest surge, the county’s health system is experiencing significant healthcare workforce shortages due to high rates of COVID transmission. As of January 6th, there are an additional 973 newly reported cases since the previous report ending on December 30th; this is an increase of over 47% this week. In total, there have been 50,353 healthcare workers and first responders confirmed with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County.
As of January 6th, skilled nursing facilities and hospitals reported the highest share of staff cases among health care setting sites. Among occupations, nursing staff accounted for 27% of new cases. Public Health is also reporting that among all healthcare workers, over one-third (39%) reported being exposed to a known case within their facility, either a patient and/or co-worker.
On December 23rd, 2021, LA County revised its Health Officer Order to align with the State of California Health Officer Order requiring booster doses for all healthcare workers. The revised order requires that booster-eligible workers in healthcare settings be boosted by February 1st, 2022, or be tested for COVID-19 twice a week, if they are in acute health care or long-term care settings.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, said, “Keeping healthcare workers safe is critical to maintaining functionality across our healthcare facilities when surges lead to staffing shortages and rising rates of hospitalizations. Across multiple healthcare settings, our health care personnel have given their all and been fully vaccinated at high levels for many months.”
Ferrer continued. “Every resident can also do their part. Please get vaccinated or boosted as soon as possible if eligible. Vaccinated individuals are between ten and thirty times less likely to need hospital care than those unvaccinated. We ask that you do not go to the emergency room unless you need care for a serious medical concern, and please do not call 911 unless you have a life-threatening emergency.”
To keep workplaces and schools open, residents and workers are asked to:
- Adhere to masking requirements when indoors or at crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of your vaccination status
- Stay home is you are sick and adhere to isolation and quarantine requirements if you are infected with COVID or a close contact of an infected person
Residents are legally required to be isolated if they have positive COVID test results. Vaccinated close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined.
- For updated isolation and quarantine guidance, please visit publichealth.lacounty.gov. - For information on where you can get tested, please visit covid19.lacounty.gov/testing.
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