Cases: Pasadena Public Health Department case counts show the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Pasadena has risen from 18.4 cases on Nov. 1 to 30.1 cases on Nov. 23, an increase of 63.5%.
As of Friday, 5 patients were in Huntington Health’s ICU, of whom 60% were vaccinated. The hospital reported 23 COVID-positive patients in all, of whom 61% were vaccinated.
LA County health officials have said previously that roughly 40% of virus patients were actually admitted to hospitals for COVID-related issues, while the rest were admitted for other reasons but tested positive at the hospital.
Overall official case numbers are believed by County officials to be artificially low, due to residents who use at-home tests and do not report the results to the county. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis noted last week that many other people who may be infected don’t get tested at all.
The county has been seeing steadily rising case and hospitalization numbers since the beginning of November, prompting health officials last week to again “strongly recommend” that people wear masks at indoor public settings.
Masks are still required indoors at health-care and congregate-care facilities, for anyone exposed to the virus in the past 10 days, and at locations where they are required by the operator.
“We are grateful for the support and kindness residents have shown each other as together we respond to the continued challenges of COVID-19,” County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement Wednesday. “As we look forward to other upcoming winter holidays, getting vaccinated with the new updated fall COVID-19 booster offers you and your family additional protection as you make plans to travel, shop and gather with those you love.
She again noted the persistent spread of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in the county, which are combining with COVID-19 to present a triple threat of respiratory illnesses. She urged residents to receive a flu shot in addition to the COVID booster vaccine.
A fully vaccinated person can still contract and transmit COVID, but health officials say the vaccines offer protection against developing severe symptoms that can result in hospitalization and even death.
Signs of hope against a third wave-After two devastating pandemic seasons, experts say this winter might be different. By Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money for the LA Times.
For the last two years, Thanksgiving served as a sobering reminder of the COVID-19 pandemic’s staying power.
For each, the holiday essentially marked the turbocharged start of the severe fall-and-winter COVID-19 wave, which both resulted in the deadliest surges of the pandemic, killing thousands of Americans a day.
But there’s some guarded optimism that this winter might be different — or at least not as bad as the 2020 and 2021 surges.
Some of the advantages we have this year include an updated COVID-19 booster shot that’s pretty well matched to the circulating strains of the coronavirus, ample supplies of at-home rapid tests, and general awareness of steps we can take to avoid illness, such as masking up in indoor public settings, staying home when sick, and improving air flow by taking events outdoors, opening windows and turning up air filtration units.
There’s even some promising news about the unrelenting emergence of coronavirus subvariants, none of which have dramatically raised alarm bells the same way the original Omicron strain did when it stormed onto the world stage last Thanksgiving.
One note of optimism comes from Singapore, which recently experienced a big wave in coronavirus cases fueled by the Omicron subvariant XBB, a recombinant of the sublineages BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. XBB has generated concern that vaccines may not be as effective against it.
Two other Omicron subvariants, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, accounted for about 57% of estimated coronavirus cases for the most recent week available, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both are descendants of BA.5 — a long-dominant strain that fueled a surge this summer.
But some experts who had previously warned about the rise of new Omicron subvariants say the latest data appear reassuring for now. New York state, for instance, has the highest proportion of BQ.1.1 in the nation — yet there is no sign of hospital admissions likewise increasing.
In California, however, coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have been increasing. As of Wednesday, there were 2,782 coronavirus-positive patients in hospitals, up 84% from the autumn low of 1,514 on Oct. 24. This summer’s peak was 4,843, set on July 26, and last winter’s peak was 15,435, set on Jan. 21. The all-time high, 21,938, was set during the first pandemic winter on Jan. 6, 2021, and the all-time summer high was 8,353, set on Aug. 31, 2021.
Nationally, hundreds of Americans are still dying every day of COVID-19, which remains a leading cause of death . And there are signs that transmission is once again on the upswing.
Los Angeles County is averaging 2,337 coronavirus cases a day for the week that ended Friday, up 32% from the previous week. On a per capita basis, L.A. County is seeing 142 cases a week for every 100,000 residents. A rate of 100 or greater is considered high.
L.A. County’s coronavirus case rate has been climbing since mid-October, when it hit an autumn low of 60 cases a week for every 100,000 residents. The latest case rate is the highest it has been since Labor Day.
California is recording 95 coronavirus cases a week for every 100,000 residents for the seven-day period that ended Tuesday. The state’s rate climbed 16% over the previous week.
Estimates suggest the share of admitted coronavirus-positive patients statewide who are in the hospital due to COVID-19 illness has remained relatively stable, at around 45%, since April. The other patients are being treated for issues not related to COVID-19. BQ.1.1 has been concerning because of assessments that it was “one of the most immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants yet seen,” Topol wrote in a blog post , including “resistance to all available monoclonal antibodies,” referring to medicine that can help treat coronavirus-infected patients or prevent infection.
It could be that cumulative immunity is now having an effect against the latest strains.
The optimism doesn’t mean that “we’re out of the woods,” Topol said. And it’s not to say that the rise of BQ.1.1 is without consequence. Already, the variant has rendered monoclonal antibodies intended to be used as medicine to treat or prevent COVID-19 effectively useless. UC San Francisco said it is discontinuing administration of bebtelovimab and Evusheld due to “a rapid increase in circulation of Omicron subvariants predicted to have resistance” against the drugs. Paxlovid, an antiviral oral medication, continues to be an effective treatment against COVID-19.
The rate at which the coronavirus is mutating has risen by 30% in the last year, Topol added, so there’s still room for Omicron “to pose a significant threat.” And there’s still the possibility that problematic variants could emerge in the future.
Much of the optimism surrounding this fall and winter stems from the availability of updated COVID-19 booster shots. Data released this week show that the updated COVID-19 vaccines offer “significant additional protection” against symptomatic infection in people who were previously vaccinated or boosted with the older formulation.
However, uptake of those doses has been slow out of the gate.
Statewide, about 16% of eligible residents have gotten the updated booster.
The coronavirus is also not the only game in town heading into this winter. Flu is surging at a level not seen in years, and RSV is continuing to stress children’s hospitals across California. Regarding the flu, though, this season’s vaccine appears also well matched to the circulating strains.
Nationally, hospitalization rates related to RSV — or respiratory syncytial virus — are exceptionally high, said Dr. Theodore Ruel, chief of UC San Francisco’s pediatric infectious diseases and global health division.
RSV also continues to stretch the available emergency room capacity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, meaning the facility cannot always accommodate patient transfers from elsewhere. The primary pediatric hospital in Orange County is observing a high number of emergency room visits daily, according to the county’s Health Care Agency.
Riverside County reported the death of a child younger than 4, possibly from RSV, in the eastern part of the county, officials said Monday. The child died after a short illness at a hospital.
Officials say that babies at high risk for severe RSV — like premature infants and young children with heart and lung conditions — can take a medicine known as palivizumab to help protect them. “If you are concerned about your child’s risk for severe RSV infection, talk to your child’s healthcare provider,” the Riverside County public health agency said.
The Economy: Most Federal Reserve officials back slower rate rises ‘soon’-A “substantial majority” of Federal Reserve officials support slowing down the pace of US interest rate rises soon, even as some warned that monetary policy would need to be tightened more than expected next year, according to an account of their most recent meeting.
THE U.S. economy faces the bleakest holiday outlook in recent memory-By Olivia for Bloomberg.Rockeman
The recent wave of relief across the retail industry is giving way to a sense of foreboding ahead of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.
Shoppers helped companies such as Macy’s Inc. avoid the worst-case scenario in the third quarter, loading up credit cards to absorb higher prices for food and household items while taking advantage of steep discounts for overstocked TVs and furniture. And although results from retailers including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Best Buy Co. exceeded forecasts, sales were still down — the contraction just wasn’t as bad as expected.
That’s in large part because retailers offered promotions earlier than normal this year to clear out excess inventory.
But executives voiced caution and repeatedly referred to economic uncertainty. And the cost of unloading piled-up inventory, while still dealing with inflation and staffing challenges, is expected to put pressure on profits.
For shoppers, that could translate into big markdowns. But those bargains may be on spring’s leftover sweatpants as merchants continue to struggle with too much stock of everything purchased early in the year, including apparel and toys.
Add it all up and the U.S. economy is looking at the bleakest holiday outlook in recent memory, with sales that will struggle to top the record-setting levels of the last few years. Apparel companies across the board are conservative about expectations for the fourth quarter, citing an uncertain environment and declining sales activity in late October and early November.
Overall spending this holiday season is seen growing 2.5% from a year ago, compared with 8.6% last year and 32% in 2020, according to data from Adobe Inc. Those figures aren’t adjusted for inflation, meaning that sales could be down by volume.
The challenges are especially acute for brands that cater to lower- and middle-income consumers, who have become more cautious when it comes to spending on discretionary items. At Abercrombie & Fitch, for example, the higher-priced namesake brand reported growth in third-quarter net sales while the lower-cost Hollister brand posted a decline.
On the flip side, higher-income shoppers are still spending. That trend was illustrated in results at Macy’s-owned Bloomingdale’s and Gap Inc.-owned Banana Republic that were better than those at the parent companies’ lower-cost brands
Consumers still plan on spending: More than three-quarters of customers expect to spend as much as or more than in 2021 on the holidays, and 85% said they will do at least some of their holiday shopping on Black Friday, according to survey data from Placer.ai, a location analytics firm that tracks foot traffic.
But some consumers are relying more on credit and buy-now, pay-later options than they did a year ago. Macy’s said last week that customers are building larger balances on credit cards.
A U.S. recession — which a growing number of economists have warned may be imminent as the Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates in an effort to curb inflation — may have a wider effect on spending across the income spectrum.