Los Angeles County’s nursing properties have noticed a rare enhance in coronavirus case charges in the course of the Omicron surge — reaching ranges exceeding even final winter’s wave — however that unprecedented torrent of infections hasn’t been matched by a record-high variety of day by day COVID-19 deaths, county well being information present.
The county has as an alternative noticed a comparatively small enhance in day by day COVID-19 deaths at nursing properties in the course of the Omicron surge, officers mentioned. And new day by day coronavirus circumstances have already began to drop.
As of mid-January, L.A. County was tallying a day by day COVID-19 loss of life fee of 20 fatalities for each 100,000 nursing house residents. That’s about one-fifth of the height of final winter’s surge, and roughly one-fourth the speed of the pandemic‘s early days in spring 2020, in keeping with figures introduced by L.A. County Public Well being Director Barbara Ferrer.
“The terribly excessive case fee has not prompted an analogous excessive enhance in deaths amongst residents in comparison with our earlier surges,” Ferrer mentioned. “We attribute these decrease numbers to very excessive vaccination charges amongst nursing house residents.”
Coronavirus case charges amongst nursing house residents and staff have already began to say no.
Between Jan. 17 and 23, new coronavirus circumstances dropped by 14% amongst residents and 30% amongst staff in contrast with the prior week.
In Mission Hills, the newest wave swiftly started to hit staffers at Ararat Nursing Facility quickly after Christmas, mentioned its govt director, Margarita Kechichian. At one level, about 10% of its workforce — roughly 30 staff — was absent, she mentioned.
As of Tuesday, solely two or three staff had been out, Kechichian mentioned. A number of residents examined optimistic for the coronavirus in the course of the surge, however “we had been very lucky and completely happy to see that everyone has already recovered,” and all of the residents just lately examined damaging, Kechichian mentioned.
By Tuesday, the Mission Hills facility had already damaged down its COVID-19 unit — a chosen space for sufferers who examined optimistic — and hadn’t had to make use of it for greater than per week, she added.
Kechichian attributed the milder impression from this wave, partially, to the truth that all staff are vaccinated and the bulk have gotten booster photographs.
“It got here on so quick,” she mentioned of the Omicron wave. “Nevertheless it already is form of tapering off.”
In response to county information, 91% of nursing house residents are absolutely vaccinated and 82% of these eligible for boosters have gotten the extra shot.
Amongst nursing house staff, 97% are absolutely vaccinated; 65% had been boosted as of early January. Ferrer anticipated extra staff to get their booster as a deadline approaches.
“With this new requirement for employees to be absolutely boosted by Feb. 1, extra employees have been coming in and getting their booster doses,” Ferrer mentioned. “So we anticipate by the tip of this month, we’ll have very excessive booster numbers as nicely amongst employees.”
In contrast to the primary yr of the pandemic, when nursing house employees had been additionally dying of COVID-19, there hasn’t been a single nursing house employee loss of life recorded up to now within the winter surge.
“The excessive vaccination charges amongst employees are chargeable for this very low loss of life fee amongst our nursing house employees,” Ferrer mentioned eventually week’s county Board of Supervisors assembly.
Shortly earlier than Christmas, Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced California would mandate boosters for all healthcare staff. Whereas L.A. County’s deadline is Tuesday, the state just lately prolonged its deadline to March 1.
“The info helps different proof that has been shared nationally by the CDC on the significance of booster doses in decreasing charges of an infection, hospitalizations and deaths,” the county Division of Public Well being mentioned in an announcement.
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