City and county officials are begging residents to comply with health orders and not visit with people outside their household over Labor Day weekend to avoid spreading the coronavirus and causing another spike in cases.
“We have an opportunity this holiday weekend to change the trajectory of the virus in LA County,” County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a press release. “Our last two summer holidays both led to increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. I believe it is possible to celebrate Labor Day without repeating our last failures if everyone understands how much depends on individual actions we each will take.”
People should not have parties or gatherings and should wear masks, stay 6 feet from those outside their household, wash their hands frequently and sanitize frequently touched surfaces often. Even at the beach, you should wear a mask unless you’re in the water or eating, county officials said.
Long Beach reported four new deaths caused by COVID-19, bringing the total to 227, while county officials reported 47 new deaths, bringing the county total to nearly 6,000.
Hospitalizations continue to fall across the city and county: county officials are reporting a more than 50% decrease in the number of people hospitalized from a month ago. A total of 56 Long Beach residents are hospitalized, far down from 91 a month ago. Countywide, a total 992 people are hospitalized. The city also reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday while the county reported 1,439 new cases.
County officials also continue to be concerned about multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, as they have found 31 total cases of it so far in the county, including three today. The syndrome is a “rare but serious” complication from COVID-19, according to the CDC. None of the children who have been diagnosed with the syndrome have died, but all of them have been hospitalized and 30% of them have been in intensive care.
Parents should take their kids to the doctor if they see symptoms like inflamed body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs, in children 0-20.