COVID Deaths Climb In LA County; Vaccine Booster Expected Soon

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County saw a grim spike in coronavirus deaths on Tuesday even as the onslaught of new cases slows. The mixed picture has health officials, at once, hopeful that the summer surge may finally have peaked while still grappling with the tragedy of so many deaths.

Los Angeles County over the weekend became one of the first and largest counties nationwide to begin administering booster vaccines to immunocompromised residents to combat the tide of cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. The early move comes as the federal government is reportedly poised to recommend booster shots for all Americans who have already received two-dose vaccines.

The Washington Post reported that federal health and science officials "are coalescing around the view that people will need the boosters eight months after being fully vaccinated." The newspaper said the administration of the boosters would begin in mid- or late September. Particulars of the plan were still being developed, according to reports.

According to the New York Times, the Biden administration is expected to make a decision about the boosters this week. First doses of booster shots are expected to go to nursing homes and the most vulnerable residents with the guidance the boosters should be administered roughly eight months from the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

In the meantime, the county reported 30 coronavirus fatalities Tuesday. At the current rate, Los Angeles County is likely to reach the grim milestone of 25,000 coronavirus deaths by week's end. With the vast majority of the victims unvaccinated, the latest losses are tragically avoidable, county health officials have been saying for weeks.

The 30 new deaths lifted the countywide death toll from throughout the pandemic to 24,935. The number of people hospitalized with COVID jumped to 1,754, according to state figures, up from 1,679 on Monday. There were 397 people being treated in intensive care, down from 402 a day ago.

The county Department of Public Health logged another 2,907 COVID infections, noting that the number may still be low due to continued delays in reporting from the weekend. The total number of cases confirmed throughout the pandemic rose to 1,355,698.

The rolling average rate of people testing positive for the virus in the county was 3.5% as of Tuesday, nearly half the rate from two weeks ago.

The continued spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 prompted health officials on Monday to issue a new health order that will require all attendees at outdoor "mega-events" with 10,000 or more people to wear face masks. The rule, which takes effect at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, will affect sporting events such as Dodgers, Rams and Chargers game, along with LAFC and Galaxy soccer matches.

The mask-wearing requirement will apply to all attendees, regardless of vaccination status.

Public health officials said Tuesday that inspectors have been finding generally good adherence to public health rules at businesses such as restaurants, bars, breweries, hotels, gyms, stores and manufacturing businesses. The most common violation detected involved employers failing to provide face masks for employees, and employees not wearing them. Some businesses also lacked required signs warning customers that masks are required indoors.

Officials said "there is some room for improvement" in terms of business compliance, particularly at gyms and food and garment manufacturing plants.

"Many businesses and worksites are doing their part and we thank all the establishments and businesses that are implementing safety recommendations, including requiring attendees to be vaccinated and layering masking and distancing," county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. "To reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant, universal masking is now required at all outdoor mega-events where thousands of people from many different communities are crowded together, often for extended periods of time. The most sensible way to add protection is to please keep your mask on when in indoor public places or worksites and at outdoor mega events when not eating or drinking."

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