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Coronavirus in California is becoming easier to get, much harder to
avoid. Here’s why
Lyndsey Marko takes a COVID-19 test at Echo Park.
Lyndsey Marko takes a COVID-19 test at Echo Park in January. (Myung J.
Chun / Los Angeles Times)
BY LUKE MONEY | STAFF WRITER
JUNE 28, 2022 UPDATED 6:16 AM PT
The number of coronavirus cases reported in California is on the brink
of crossing 10 million, a milestone that probably undercounts the total significantly yet still carries an increasing sense of inevitability.
Since the hyper-transmissible Omicron variant stormed onto the scene in
early December, the virus has wormed its way into seemingly every family
and social circle. Residents who for years escaped infection were swept
up in the resulting tidal wave of cases, though for many, the severity
of illness has been lessened by vaccines, the availability of
therapeutics and other factors.
A plethora of high-profile people who have recently tested positive —
among them Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and even Dr.
Anthony Fauci — have also fueled the notion that catching the
coronavirus is no longer a matter of if, but when.
“It’s going to get easier and easier to get and harder to escape
infection. But that doesn’t mean we put ourselves in a sort of mind-set
that, ‘You know, to hell with it. I’m just going to do anything I want
to do anyway,’” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco
infectious-disease expert, said during an interview Friday.
FILE - In this March 2021 photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the
company's facility in Puurs, Belgium. According to a study published
Thursday. June 23, 2022 in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases,
nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their
first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if global
targets had been reached. (Pfizer via AP)
SCIENCE & MEDICINE
COVID-19 vaccines saved 20 million lives in first year, scientists say
June 23, 2022
It’s understandable that some might view the coronavirus as inescapable, especially amid massive numbers of new infections.
Nearly half of California’s officially reported cases — more than 4.9 million — have been tallied since Dec. 1, the day health officials
confirmed Omicron’s presence in California, according to data compiled
by The Times.
Officials note those figures are an undercount, and likely a significant
one. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent seroprevalence estimate for California — the overall share of residents thought to have been infected with the
coronavirus at some point — was 55.5% in February.
Still, that means there are likely millions of Californians who have
never contracted the virus.
This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2, also known
as 2019-nCoV, the coronavirus virus that causes COVID-19
SCIENCE & MEDICINE
A guide to help you keep track of all the Omicron subvariants
May 6, 2022
Among those are Chin-Hong, as well as Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of UC
San Francisco’s Department of Medicine.
“The fact that I and a fair number of people who continue to be careful
and are fully vaccinated and boosted remain COVID-free tells me that
it’s possible we will continue to be that way, so I don’t buy the inevitability argument,” Wachter said in an interview Friday. “On the
other hand, there are plenty of people who I know who have been just as
careful as I have and have gotten it in the past few months, so I think there’s some randomness to this.”
Given the proliferation of ever-more-infectious Omicron subvariants,
avoiding the coronavirus has become an increasingly tricky proposition.
“It is likely, as COVID-19 variants continue to evolve to be more transmissible and acquire the ability to evade the protection of
antibodies against infection, which results in breakthrough infections
in the vaccinated and in those with prior illness, it will be difficult
for many to avoid being exposed to COVID-19 going forward,” said Dr.
Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert with UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health.
But infection isn’t inevitable, he added, and “everyone needs to be vigilant to avoid exposure and prevent severe disease,” especially
during periods of high community transmission.
“Masking when in crowded indoor settings and being vaccinated and
boosted are still the best protections. Also, if one becomes infected
and symptomatic, medicines such as Paxlovid will significantly reduce
the severity of the disease, especially for persons at higher risk,” he
told The Times in an email.
CORONAVIRUS IN CALIFORNIA »
14-day change
Cases
-12%
Deaths
-6%
Vaccines »
78.9%
of Californians have received a dose
71.7%
are fully vaccinated
LAUSD cases »
Latest COVID-19 news »
Though there are indications that the latest coronavirus wave may be
starting to level off in California, transmission remains elevated. Over
the weeklong period ending Thursday, the state reported an average of
16,130 new cases per day — a decrease of almost 12% from two weeks ago, according to data compiled by The Times.
The new infections, however, have not created anywhere near the same
level of strain on hospitals as the pandemic’s previous surges. But the number of coronavirus-positive patients is growing steadily.
As of Friday, 3,169 such individuals were hospitalized statewide — up
21% from two weeks ago. The number of patients being treated in
intensive care units has likewise crept up, to 331, but that number
remains among the lowest of the entire pandemic.
It’s true that not all patients are hospitalized for COVID-19
infections. The California Department of Public Health says about half
are there “due to COVID-19 and not simply with COVID-19.” But officials
say all coronavirus-positive individuals place demands on healthcare facilities.
“Even though half of these patients may not be hospitalized because they
have COVID-19, they still influence hospital workload and burden due to
special infection control precautions and placement,” the department
told The Times in a statement last week.
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21, 2022 - - Palisades Charter High School
students ride the MTA Expo line after school let out in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 21, 2022. Masks will again be required on all public
transit within Los Angeles County, including buses, trains, taxis and ride-hailing service vehicles, under a new COVID-19 health order that
will take effect Friday, April 22, 2022. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) CALIFORNIA
This new California coronavirus wave isn’t sticking to the script: Big spread, less illness
June 21, 2022
But while this apparent script — less severe illness, even during a
prolonged period of elevated transmission — is a promising development, officials and experts stress that it’s impossible to predict the future course of COVID-19.
One area of concern is the proliferation of two Omicron subvariants:
BA.4 and BA.5. Those are not only highly transmissible, but have shown
the ability to reinfect survivors of earlier Omicron strains.
In recent weeks, BA.4 and BA.5 have gradually made up a larger share of
new coronavirus infections nationwide. Over the seven-day period ending
June 18, the CDC estimated BA.5 accounted for 23.5% of new cases, and
BA.4 made up 11.4%.
How the subvariants’ growing footprint will alter the pandemic’s path in California remains to be seen. However, the World Health Organization
noted recently that “the rise in prevalence of BA.4 and BA.5 has
coincided with a rise in cases” in several regions, and, in some
countries, that increase “has also led to a surge in hospitalizations
and ICU admissions.”
FILE - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers Nick Luzano,
left, Eric Kelly, center, and Eric Hofstein, right, wear masks while
patrolling a Richmond bound train from Powell Street Station BART
platform in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 20, 2020. The BART board of directors decided, Thursday, April 28, 2022, to temporarily restore a
mask mandate for riders on the rail system a week after it was dropped.
The new mandate is effective until July 18, unless extended. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
CALIFORNIA
Alameda County ends short-lived mask mandate, citing improved
coronavirus conditions
June 24, 2022
It is possible that increases in hospitalizations are simply the
numerical byproduct of growing infections. As the WHO noted, current
available evidence doesn’t indicate a change in disease severity
associated with either BA.4 or BA.5.
“It’s still very early in our experience with BA.4 and BA.5, and so we
are monitoring the literature closely to see if there is any data on
that,” Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said during a briefing Thursday. “And
certainly, if we do see anything, even a slight increase in virulence
for BA.4 and BA.5, that would raise a lot of concern for us and, I
think, increase the stakes in terms of encouraging the various
protective measures that the public can take.”
Another wrinkle is the recent decision by federal health officials to
authorize children as young as 6 months to receive either the
Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. While COVID-19 has not hit the
youngest children as hard as other age groups, they’ve still been
vulnerable to infection — and could potentially spread the virus to
others more at risk of severe health issues.
“The fact that kids now under 5 are getting vaccinated, kids 5 and over
can get a booster, there’s more Paxlovid going around, all of that might
keep community viral load lower than it would have been,” Chin-Hong said.
Los Angeles, CA - June 21: Children's Hospital Los Angeles nurse Monica
Lopez prepares to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Callum
Diaz-Cheng, 3, son of CHLA Cardiologist Dr. Jennifer Su and one of the hospital's first children under five to receive the shot, on Tuesday,
June 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times)
SCIENCE & MEDICINE
What’s the difference between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the youngest kids?
June 24, 2022
But at this point, the coronavirus is still widely circulating. And each infection carries with it not just the chance of near-term health
impacts, but the risk of developing “long COVID,” in which symptoms can linger for months.
That’s a possible outcome with which Wachter is all too familiar. His
wife is still grappling with fatigue and some brain fog weeks after she
was infected.
Some who develop long COVID, he said, will have prolonged symptoms that
are “life-limiting in a way.” For others, those “will actually be disabling.” In either case, residents shouldn’t ignore the possibility. Another symptom recently infected people should be wary of is guilt — a feeling that catching the coronavirus somehow indicates they made a bad decision and are now paying the price.
“It’s not a moral failure,” Chin-Hong said. “There are a lot of reasons why it’s so easy to get this particular infection, even when you’re
taking a measured approach to life.”
Callum Diaz-Cheng, 3, reacts in the arms of his father, Dr. Andrew
Cheng, after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Children's
Hospital Los Angeles in Los Angeles, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP
Photo/Jae C. Hong)
CALIFORNIA
2 million California kids are now eligible for COVID vaccine. How many
will get it?
June 22, 2022
After all, people still have to go to work, run errands and take care of
their children or other relatives should they become ill. And many are
now taking the opportunity to resume activities they either weren’t able
to do or didn’t feel comfortable doing earlier in the pandemic.
“We’re humans. We’re social creatures. We were meant to get out and do things,” Wachter said. “All of us have to make choices about the level
of risk that we’re willing to take. And that’s true when we get up and
get out of bed in the morning; it’s true when we get on an airplane;
it’s true when we get in the car.”
That’s not to say that precautions like masking in crowded indoor
settings and getting vaccinated and boosted, when eligible, don’t still
make sense. But Californians needn’t beat themselves up if they take
those steps and still fall prey to the coronavirus.
“There are many people who are getting infected who are remaining super careful,” Wachter said. “That’s the thing now, even very cautious behavior is no guarantee you’re not going to get it. This damn thing is
so incredibly infectious.”
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