March 11, 2022

Today, Public Health confirmed 48 additional deaths, and 1,297 new positive cases.
Of the 48 newly reported deaths, 36 had underlying health conditions.
Today’s positivity rate is .9%.
There are 588 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health: “Although the County is now post-surge, Public Health cautions that community transmission is substantial and poses a risk for many individuals, including numerous people working at or attending schools. Having children and staff fully vaccinated creates a powerful layer of protection and continuing masking while transmission is substantial adds another level of safety for both children and staff in schools. When combined with additional safety precautions, including infection control and testing, schools can continue to offer safe environments for children, staff, and their families.”

With the state issuing the new guidance on TK-12 schools, the layering of safety protections is critical to protect vulnerable children, teachers, and staff at schools. Starting tomorrow, March 12, indoor masking at schools will no longer be required. However, the state and the county are strongly recommending indoor masking for students, teachers, and staff, regardless of vaccination status, until transmission is lower.

School districts in LA County can continue to require masking at schools and during school activities, along with other appropriate safety protections, for their school community. At campuses where masking becomes optional, Public Health encourages that information about the importance of masking is shared with all members of the school community, and that schools support all teachers, staff, and students who want to keep wearing a mask.

The county is also aligning with the state in revising isolation and quarantine requirements for TK-12 schools. Schools must continue to require COVID-19 cases to isolate, and a negative test will be required to exit isolation after day five. Masking and testing for asymptomatic students remaining at schools during their quarantine period are strongly recommended.

The revised LA County TK-12 school guidance will be posted on the Public Health website later today.

Public Health also urges parents to fully vaccinate their eligible children, as the vaccines offer the strongest protection against the virus. As of March 6, 35% of children 5-11 years old and 85% of children 12–17-year-olds have received one dose of the vaccine and 29% of 5–11-year-olds and 77% of 12–17-year-olds are fully vaccinated.

Public Health data shows that unvaccinated children ages 5-11 were two times more likely to be infected when compared to those who were fully vaccinated. For those ages 12-17, unvaccinated teens were two and a half times more likely to be infected and five times more likely to be hospitalized when compared to those who were fully vaccinated.

To make it easier for children to get vaccinated, Public Health is working to make vaccines widely available at many school sites. For the month of March, 921 school vaccination sites are scheduled with 89% located in hard-hit community areas, including South Los Angeles (including Compton and Inglewood), Southeast Los Angeles County (including Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, South Gate, Huntington Park, Lakewood), the San Fernando Valley (Reseda, North Hills, Panorama City, Canoga Park, Pacoima, and Sylmar) and areas in the Antelope Valley.

Local schools are continuing to see a decline in the number of positive tests and test positivity for their students and staff. Between February 28 and March 4, over 470,000 tests were administered at K-12 schools across the county with 1,381 positive tests, resulting in a test positivity of 0.3%. There were five new school-associated outbreaks (two outbreaks in elementary schools, two in middle schools, and one in youth sports) between February 27 and March 5.