I hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day.
Here is the up-to-date news and information related to COVID-19: Los Angeles County is recommending (not requiring) that everyone, including vaccinated persons, wear masks indoors at all times. The Delta Variant has begun spreading here and wearing masks inside can help slow the spread to unvaccinated person. Those who are vaccinated can still contract coronavirus, but it is unlikely you would show symptoms or become severely ill. The LAC DPH Mask Guidance has been updated to include the recommendation that fully vaccinated persons wear a mask in indoor public settings and businesses as an extra precaution. The information in Spanish is pending. Please visit our COVID-19 Mask website at [ph.lacounty.gov/masks]ph.lacounty.gov/masks for more extensive information.
LA County has published the following downloadable signage:
- Indoors - Masks required for everyone English
- Indoors - Masks required for people who are not fully vaccinated English
- LA County's Best Practices for Businesses guidance was updated June 25, 2021 and includes important information:
- Prevent and reduce transmission from and among customers/visitors
- Prevent and reduce transmission among employees
- Maintain a healthy work environment
- Maintain healthy business operations
- Signage.
LA County's Best Practices for Office-Based Businesses guidance was updated June 25, 2021 and includes important information:
- Requiring masks for employees in compliance with State Guidance and Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS)
- Screen customers, vendors, and delivery people
- Reduce crowding, especially indoors
- Ventilate
- Support handwashing
- Communicate
Current Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards for COVID-19 require face coverings in specific situations for specific employees. Masks are required for all unvaccinated employees when indoors or in shared vehicles. Free and Low-Cost PPE is available for businesses.
The State of California has an online portal to assist employers with current information and safety protocols. You can access the information here: https://saferatwork.covid19.ca.gov.
From LA County: The welfare and safety of the residents of Los Angeles County is a priority. Of great concern is keeping employees safe in the workplace. LA County Department of Public Health has developed COVID-19 Safety: Workers Rights in California. This is a resource that provides information to workers to make them informed of their rights in the workplace.
The COVID-19: Continuing Safety Measures is a resource that explains ongoing COVID-19 requirements for businesses. Businesses are required to adhere to both: The County Health Officer Order (HOO) which is
posted at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/ AND CAL/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) posted at https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/COVID19FAQs.html.
Other pertinent information and resources can be found on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health COVID-19 webpage. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to protect the health and well-being of Los Angeles County residents.
Cases: Cases of the coronavirus in Pasadena have increased slightly even as vaccinations in the region have risen, according to the Pasadena Public Health Department. The seven-day average of coronavirus infections from June 23 to June 30 was 3.3, while the seven-day average between June 16 and June 23 was a little higher than one.
Although case numbers have crept up ever-so-slightly, the number of deaths is essentially zero. The most recent sevenday average of COVID-19 related deaths in Pasadena is zero, and the last time it was greater than that was between June 2 and June 9, when it reached just 0.3.
Part of the reason for this trend may be the new delta variant spreading in communities across the globe, although the Pasadena Public Health Department can’t say this with certainty, as no single case of the variant has been affirmatively identified in the city.
Los Angeles County reported its highest daily number of new COVID-19 infections since mid-April on Thursday, continuing an upward trend that began following the statewide lifting of health restrictions and could be driven in part by spread of a highly contagious coronavirus variant. According to numbers released by the county Department of Public Health, 506 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, more than double the average daily number the county was reporting in mid-June, when the state and county virus restrictions were lifted. The county’s rate of people testing positive for the virus held steady at 1.2% on Thursday, but that’s triple the rate the county was reporting June 12, and a jump from the 0.8% rate reported June 25.
The number of people hospitalized in the county due to COVID-19 also continued a steady upward march, with state figures putting the number at 280 as of Thursday, up from 275 on Wednesday and 255 on Tuesday. There were 74 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, down slightly from 76 on Wednesday.
Another 549 COVID-19 infections were reported in Los Angeles County on Friday, the largest number since April and the second consecutive day the figure has topped 500, prompting more calls for residents to get vaccinated and exercise caution over the Fourth of July weekend. The rolling average rate of people testing positive for the virus also continued inching upward in the county, although the figure still remains very low at just 1.3%. That’s up from 1.2% on Thursday but is more than four times the 0.03% rate reported by the county in early June.
Hospitalizations because of COVID-19 dipped slightly on Friday, with state figures showing 275 virus patients in the county, down from 280 Thursday. There were 72 patients in intensive care because of COVID-19, down from 74 on Thursday.
In the It Comes as No Suprise Department: From the Pasadena Star-News: Nearly all COVID- 19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 107,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That’s about 1.1%. And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID- 19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.
The AP analyzed figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC itself has not estimated what percentage of hospitalizations and deaths are in fully vaccinated people, citing limitations in the data. Among them: Only about 45 states report breakthrough infections, and some are more aggressive than others in looking for such cases. So the data probably understates such infections, CDC officials said. Still, the overall trend that emerges from the data echoes what many health care authorities are seeing around the country and what top experts are saying.
If you are not vaccinated, GET VACCINATED! For yourself and for those you care about and all of us.
Unemployment: From the Wall Street Journal: The U.S. labor-market recovery is accelerating after a spring lull. Employers added 850,000 jobs in June—the biggest gain in 10 months—and workers’ wages rose briskly, the government said Friday, both signs of robust demand for workers. The unemployment rate, derived from a separate survey of households, rose to 5.9% last month from 5.8% in May. That was in part because of a positive development: A modest number of Americans came off the sidelines and entered the job search, expanding the labor pool. A broader measure of unemployment that takes into account workers stuck in part-time jobs and those too discouraged to look for work fell sharply last month.
Job growth lagged behind broader economic growth earlier this spring, with the economy adding 583,000 jobs in May and 269,000 in April.
But big hurdles to hiring are starting to clear away. Rising vaccination rates, easing government restrictions on businesses and the expiration of unemployment benefits in many states are stoking the latest growth.
Workers are coming back to the labor market—albeit slowly—and employers, desperate to hire to serve a flood of customers, are dangling higher pay and other incentives such as signing bonuses. Hourly wages among private-sector workers rose 3.6% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, fears of the pandemic are easing. The number of workers who said they were prevented from looking for work because of the pandemic fell by 900,000 in June to 1.6 million.
California workers filed 57,000 jobless claims during the week ending June 26, down 6,900 from the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Nationwide, seasonally adjusted jobless claims fell 51,000 in a week to 364,000 last week.
Applications for unemployment benefits have fallen more or less steadily since the year began. The rollout of vaccines has sharply reduced new COVID- 19 cases, giving consumers the confidence to shop, travel, eat out and attend public events as the economy recovers. Last week’s drop in jobless claims was steeper than economists had expected. Applications for unemployment benefits have now fallen in 10 of the past 12 weeks.
The job market’s improvement comes against the backdrop of a fast-rebounding economy. Growth for the just-ended April-June quarter is believed to have reached an annual pace of roughly 10%.
On Friday, according to the data provider FactSet, the government is expected to report that employers added 675,000 jobs in June. That would be a substantial number but still not at a pace that would allow the economy to quickly regain its pre-pandemic level of employment. The job market remains nearly 7 million jobs short of that level.
Some businesses have complained that expanded federal aid to the unemployed — especially a $300-a-week supplemental benefit, intended to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic — has discouraged some people from looking for a job. But other factors, too, are believed to have contributed to the shortage of people seeking work again: Difficulty arranging or affording child care, lingering fears of COVID-19, early retirements by older workers, a slowdown in immigration and a decision by some people to seek new careers rather than return to their old jobs.
A statewide consumer confidence index confirms what crowded shopping centers, filled attractions and jammed freeways suggest: California’s shopper psyche is at a 28-month high. The Conference Board’s polling put its consumer confidence index at 127.9 for June — up from a revised 118.2 a month earlier and up from 77.5 in the lockeddown economy of a year ago. The 8% one-month gain and a 65% gain over 12 months can be tied to reopening the state’s economy after widespread vaccinations lowered coronavirus health risks. The last time this benchmark was higher was well before the pandemic in March 2019. California confidence averaged 113 in the five years before coronavirus chilled the economy.
California consumers’ view of current conditions scored 144.7 — up from 124.4 a month earlier and above 44.8 a year earlier. This measure averaged 141 in 2015-19. Shoppers outlook statewide scored 116.7, more optimistic than 114.1 the previous month and up from 99.3 a year earlier. This measure averaged 94 in 2015-19.