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COVID-19 Update: Restrictions to Lift on June 15, Vaccine Progess, LAUSD to Offer Full-Day In-Person Instruction in Fall

One of LAUSD’s many new school-based vaccine sites. (Image from Superintendent Austin Beutner’s weekly address.)

 

COVID-19 stats continue to trend down this week, paving the way for LA County’s announcement on Monday that Los Angeles will follow the state’s lead and remove most business, travel and other restrictions on June 15.

Over the past nine days, daily new cases have remained reliably below 300 per day, with five of the last nine days below the 200 mark.  Deaths are also decreasing, with three of the last nine days in the single digits.  And hospitalizations have topped 350 only twice in the last nine days.

 

LA County Covid Cases, Deaths & Hospitalizations

DateNew CasesDeathsCurrent Hospitalizations
5/25/2119110325
5/24/211394319
5/23/211735339
5/22/2126513330
5/21/2126415355
5/20/2124519356
5/19/2125516351
5/18/2115912338
5/17/211614322
May 17-15, 2021

 

This means trend lines are still moving slowly downward, too, with no noticeable upticks.

 

 

All this good news paved the way for LA County’s weekly press conference on Monday, during which LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis formally announced the June 15 re-opening, as well as the lifting of mask mandates for fully vaccinated individuals, and the removal of quarantines for travelers from other states coming in to California.

At the same time, however, LA County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer provided a bit more information, noting that vaccine verification and/or proof of negative test results will still be required for “mega events” – those with more than 5,000 people at indoor venues, and /or more than 10,000 people at outdoor venues.  She also noted that some testing and vaccine requirements may be in place for certain retail and work sites, and that separate guidelines will be issued soon for “youth, schools, healthcare and high-risk congregate settings.”

 

 

Meanwhile, Solis noted, there there is still a lot of work to do between now and June 15, to prepare for the lifting of restrictions.  Individuals should make an effort to get vaccinated if they haven’t been already, she said, as well as encourage others to get vaccinated.  “It’s an opportunity to protect yourself,” said Solis, and “this is the time to met this moment with your friends, families and co-workers.”

Regarding vaccinations, Ferrer announced that 62% of LA county residents ages 16 and up have now been fully vaccinated, with that number representing just over 50% of the County’s total 10 million population.

 

 

 

For other age groups and sub-groups, the current vaccine numbers and percentages for LA County are shown below.  (Note that vaccinations for ages 12-15 have only been available for only about a week so far.)

 

 

 

Ferrer also reported, however, that vaccine rates are still falling from their peak in early April, with fewer people seeking vaccinations now, even though more people have become eligible for them in the last few weeks.

 

 

Still, overall progress has been good, as Ferrer illustrated with these two maps, showing areas with lower (tan/brown zones) and higher (green zones) numbers of vaccinated individuals over the last month:

 

 

And we can see both the overall progress and slowing of vaccination rates in our own neighborhoods as well.  Comparing the bar charts below, most of our local Buzz-area neighborhoods showed a 10-12% increase in the number of people who had received at least one dose of a vaccine in the two weeks between April 26 and May 10, but only about 3-4% increases for most neighborhoods in the two weeks from May 10 to May 24.  In other words, things are still moving in the right direction, but they’re definitely moving a lot slower at the moment than they were a month or so ago.

 

Finally at Monday’s press event, Ferrer reminded residents that LA County still has more than 700 vaccination sites currently open (including both city and county sites, pharmacies, and more)…as well as additional mobile vaccination sites.  To find a vaccination site near you, go to http://www.vaccinate.lacounty.com, where you can also request a mobile vaccination team to visit an event or workplace for even more convenient service.

Meanwhile, in his weekly address to the public on Monday, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner spoke about rolling out the District’s new mobile vaccination efforts, and repeated his longstanding message that “There is no better place to provide vaccinations to children than at their local, neighborhood school.”

“Los Angeles Unified is operating this program much like it’s already doing with COVID testing and its existing school-based vaccination sites,” Beutner explained. “Mobile vaccination teams visit each school on a predetermined schedule to administer doses of the vaccine to students…The plan is to visit each middle and high school campus to offer vaccinations to students at least once before the school year ends and again during the summer.”

And the District is also providing incentives to visit the clinics, said Beutner.  “Food trucks will provide refreshments for students and their family members, and schools where more than 30% of students are vaccinated will each receive $5,000 for projects at their school and students can decide how the money is used. Vaccination schedules and locations are available on the Los Angeles Unified website. Any child, any adult in the community can come for a vaccine.”

Finally, Beutner also announced that schools will definitely re-open for in-person instruction in the fall.

“Looking down the path to recovery and the new school year which starts this fall, all students will have the opportunity to participate in full-day, on-campus, in-person instruction. That means elementary school students will be on campus 5 days a week for a full day of in-person instruction with their teacher and classmates. Middle school and high school students will be on campus 5 days a week for a full schedule of instruction, changing classrooms for each period. ”

But he stressed that health protections will still be in place.

“We expect students and staff will continue to wear masks until more children have been vaccinated, just as Dr. Anthony Fauci has recently stated. But August is still 3 months away and we can’t predict exactly what standards health authorities will tell us are appropriate at that time.”

And also, he noted, while campuses will be open, online options will continue to be available for those students who need them.

“While we are looking forward to welcoming all students back to schools in August, for students who are unable or choose not to participate at schools for in-person instruction, an online option must remain in place for the next school year,” Beutner said. “Some students and some staff members may need to stay at home until all at schools are vaccinated due to health reasons because they live with an immune-compromised family member. Students at all grade levels will have the option to participate in online classes staffed with Los Angeles Unified teachers. We expect the vast majority of students, teachers and staff to be at school every day but recognize that we must provide the online opportunity for those who need it.”

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Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and has been writing for the Buzz since 2015.

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