A more infectious version of the omicron variant continues to gain traction in Los Angeles County, public health officials said Thursday, March 31. And while that traction has not yet translated into an upwards spike in hospitalizations, it has sparked caution amid the recent slow pace of congressional action vital to battling the disease, officials said.
BA.2 — a more infectious variant of COVID-19 — is on the rise in the county, detected in 32% of COVID infections sequenced during the week of March 12, according to County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
That doesn’t make it the dominant strain compared to its older sibling, omicron, which raged through the county in January, but it is definitely cause for caution, Ferrer said.
“This is double the percentage that was identified for the prior week (ending March 5),” Ferrer said. “And given that BA.2 is more infectious than the previous omicron strains, we expect that BA.2 now accounts for an even higher proportion of COVID-19 cases in L.A. County.”
As a result, Ferrer asked local residents to be prepared for the possibility that a new variant could provoke additional interventions and mitigation measures. Especially since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated this week that BA.2 is now the dominant variant in the United States.
In the meantime, however, the good news is that as of March 27 only 3% of emergency department encounters have been classified as COVID-related, reflecting a broader, steep decline in hospital admissions due to the disease.
The number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals fell to 308 on Thursday, down from 325 on Wednesday. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care was 47, down from 51 a day earlier.
But like much in the pandemic era, good news often comes with a caveat. Thursday’s was that the county is beginning to see a leveling off of the declines in COVID case numbers that have marked the past several weeks, with the county now averaging about 660 cases per day.
“The rate of decline has been slower, and this week we’re not seeing any declines in the cases,” Ferrer said.
She said it’s too early to call that leveling-off a “concern,” but she termed it “notable.”
“At some point we knew that it was likely we were going to stop declining,” she said. “We know there’s still transmission. … Personally, I wish we were at a lower level when we’re doing this plateauing, but we have seen a significant decrease, and that’s the good news.”
It’s not unfamiliar territory in a two-year battle with the virus in which public health officials see declining numbers, they lift mandates only to see the numbers hit a baseline and then rise again.
Ferrer noted that the slowing of the decline could be related to the recent lifting of COVID health measures, such as indoor masking requirements. The county on Friday, along with the state, will lift the vaccine or negative-test verification requirement at indoor mega-events, such as sporting events and concerts.
“Every single time we have reduced the restrictions or levels of protection that are required, we have always seen an uptick (in cases),” Ferrer said. “The slowing of the decline can also be seen in some ways as an uptick.”
Los Angeles County Public Health reported 16 deaths due to COVID-19 and 784 new cases, slightly more than the region’s recent average of 600, a number that hasn’t been seen since July 2021, Ferrer said. The county’s rate of 66 new cases per 100,000 people is yet another positive sign of lower transmission.
Still, Ferrer encouraged residents to take steps now to maximize protection against spread of future variants of concern. This includes getting vaccinated, wearing a mask indoors and possibly talking to your provider about Evusheld, a new therapeutic for people 12 years and older.
Los Angeles County this week began offering second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine, following approval of the additional Pfizer and Moderna shots by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The additional boosters were authorized for people who are age 50 and over, and who received their last booster shot at least four months ago.
Boosters are also available for younger people who are considered immunocompromised and at higher risk of severe illness from the virus.
“The truth is that given the threat of a more infectious virus circulating widely across the county, those who are unvaccinated, those that aren’t up to date on their boosters, those who are immunocompromised, those with underlying health conditions, and those with more exposures at work and in the community are at higher risk of getting infected, hospitalized and even dying,” Ferrer warned. “So taking time now to get vaccinated and boosted not only protects the person that’s going to get vaccinated, but it also reduces the risk of increased transmission across the county.”
To date, nearly three out of four residents ages five and older in L.A. County are fully vaccinated, which is good news. But Ferrer reminded the public that booster coverage remains disappointingly low in some of the county’s hardest hit communities, and these gaps “create a lot of risk.”
And while public health works with its vaccination partners to take steps to speed the pace of vaccination and boosters, Ferrer urged residents who aren’t sure whether they should get a second booster to discuss any questions with their providers.
“But if you are eligible for the second booster dose and you do want to increase your chances of not getting infected with COVID-19, you may want to go ahead and get that second booster dose now,” Ferrer said. “This is a time for everyone to use the tools at hand to increase levels of protection that can decrease personal and community risk.”
Those tools, particularly in low-income communities, where federally funded resources have ensured access to vaccines and to testing. But for weeks, Congress has stalled on measures that would provide fresh COVID-funding and federal reimbursements at local clinics.
Congress is being pressured to provide immediate funding to ensure the continued supply of vaccines, personal protective equipment, and other tools needed in the fight against coronavirus make it to providers of newly approved booster doses.
The Biden administration and other Democrats have warned the government is running out of money to counter the pandemic at a time when a new variant is spreading.
Since the pandemic began, Congress has approved more than $5 trillion to address the economic and health crises it produced.
But only a small fraction of that has been for public health programs like vaccines.
Lawmakers on Thursday appeared close to a deal on a scaled-back bipartisan compromise providing an infusion of $10 billion to combat COVID-19, a deal that could set up final congressional approval next week, according to the Associated Press.
But the slow pace of an agreement has been troubling for local public health experts battline omicon at the same time a new subvariant is gaining strength.
“It really is shameful, in the middle of a pandemic, that we’re all worrying about not having enough money to make sure that those folks with the least resources are going to have good access to what it takes to add on layers of protection from COVID,” Ferrer said . “We should have learned a lot of lessons by now.”
City News Service cand the Associated Press contributed to this report.