LA workplaces appear as pathways for coronavirus spread

Since Los Angeles County is now a leading site for the coronavirus crisis in America, the statistics are difficult to process. A person dies every ten minutes. And Mayor Eric Garcetti noted Sunday that a person becomes infected every six seconds.

But one thing about the pandemic did not change during the darkest phase: those who suffer the most. For those with the means to stay at home and have the strength to avoid gatherings, COVID-19 remained a relatively low risk. For people living in crowded conditions and who have to work, it has become an even stronger threat.

Workplaces remain a growing source of concern, amid new outbreaks at retail businesses as well as other businesses deemed essential. The large increase in business increases the chances of job creation.

“If you previously had a workplace where you had 500 employees, there may be one person infected, so the risk of transmitting it to many people is lower,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, chief medical officer in Los Angeles County, said. Sunday. ‘But now, with the incidence of infection at 1% or higher, there are maybe five if they have 500 employees. And it increases the chances it can spread in the workplace. ”

There are seven Costco warehouses with clusters of confirmed cases of at least 15 infected staff members, with a Culver City position in which 71 people tested positive for the virus, one in Van Nuys with 50 and another in Woodland Hills with 42. Other affected stores include Lancaster, Monterey Park, Santa Clarita and the Burbank Business Warehouse, according to data released by the LA County Department of Public Health.

There are eight home depots in LA County with active outbreaks, including in Alhambra, Cypress Park, Downey, South LA, North Hollywood, Panorama City, Van Nuys and Signal Hill, near Long Beach. Ten outbreaks have recently been reported at Target locations in LA County, with 217 staff members infected.

There were also recent infections among staff at six McDonald’s locations, four Chick-fil-A restaurants and two In-N-Outs; at Best Buy stores in Downey and West Hollywood; the Nordstrom in Cerritos; Merchant Joe’s in Glendale and North Hollywood; Whole Foods markets in Santa Monica and Sherman Oaks; and Apple stores in the Beverly Center, Glendale Galleria and Los Cerritos Center. Apple closed malls in California before Christmas due to the boom.

New outbreaks have been reported at fire stations in Los Angeles. There have been at least nine persistent outbreaks at stations that have infected at least 65 people.

There have also been three persistent outbreaks among people working at Los Angeles International Airport, including at American Airlines and JetBlue Airlines. At least five people working for the LAX police have also recently contracted the coronavirus.

The virus is also affecting the entertainment industry, which considers home rules to be an essential undertaking. Clusters of coronavirus infections have recently been identified among workers at three Warner Bros. productions in Burbank – ‘Lucifer’, ‘The Kominsky Method’ and ‘Young Sheldon’. In total, 35 people tested positive as part of these infections.

An additional 45 cases of coronavirus have been identified, according to provincial data at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City. Twenty-three cases were identified among workers at NBC Universal in Studio City and Universal City, including during the production of the show “Mr. Mayor. There were nine cases of coronavirus among staff at Netflix Productions’ Gardena office.

Public health officials in the LA province have urged filmmakers to consider keeping quiet for a few weeks during a catastrophic increase in COVID cases. “

CBS Studios, Universal Television, ABC Signature, 20th Television, Warner Bros. Television and Sony Pictures Television have delayed the production of a number of TV shows.

On Sunday night, an agreement was reached by the actors’ association SAG-AFTRA and groups representing film and TV producers and advertisers to recommend a temporary hold on production in Southern California, according to the union.

‘Hospitals in Southern California are facing a crisis we’ve never seen before. Patients die in ambulances waiting for treatment because of emergencies in hospitals. It is currently not a safe environment for personal production, ‘SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement.

The outbreaks can sometimes represent bad infection control practices at the establishments, but sometimes not. Earlier in the pandemic, officials said some outbreaks – defined as three or more reports of infections among workers at a company over a 14-day period – were more a sign of the spread of the virus in this country by more than 10 million people occur. where the virus can be transmitted from social gatherings to workplaces and then to new homes – a vicious cycle.

There is no doubt that social gatherings are an important factor in the transmission of viruses, including family events during holidays and large New Year’s Eve parties. LAPD and sheriff’s department officials said they broke up at least 13 New Year’s Eve gatherings with more than 2,900 people and arrested at least 90 adults on suspicion of violating the home order.

One thing is also clear: the risk of Coronavirus varies by community. Latino residents are now dying of COVID-19 at 2 times the white population of LA County, a difference that has increased since the pandemic in the California population worsened. Compared to white residents, the chances of black residents being twice as likely, and Latinos three times as likely, are likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19.

It is also becoming increasingly likely that the virus will spread more frequently in workplaces run by essential workers, who will then transmit the virus to family or roommates at home.

This is especially a concern in the densely populated, strong Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, which have the worst number of virus cases.

“I think it makes sense now, with the boom, that there are actually several ways for people who are very vulnerable to becoming infected,” Gunzenhauser said. “Between where they live and where they work, the risks are only greater for these individuals.”

The excessive toll suffered by communities of color has been a problem since the beginning of the pandemic. But after the second outbreak of the pandemic faded in late summer and early fall, the gap between Latino and Black communities has waned compared to white residents. The new boom has exacerbated inequalities.

“The progress we’ve made over the summer has completely evaporated,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County. “The gaps have again increased dramatically, especially for Latinx residents compared to other groups, although all groups are experiencing an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.”

Coronavirus cases and death rates are also increasing much faster for people living in impoverished neighborhoods in LA County, than for people living in the richest areas. Among the communities with the highest coronavirus cases in the province: South LA, the eastern San Fernando Valley, Boyle Heights, Eastern LA and Southeast LA County.

Experts say that people who have to leave home to work and those who live in overcrowded house arrangements, often because of the
high cost of housing, runs a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus.

‘We are the densest metro area in the United States. But we also see the household spreading now, ‘Garcetti told CBS News’ Face the Nation’ on Sunday. ‘One person comes home – an essential worker – there can be five, seven, ten people in that household. And it’s a worrying trend that the deaths now are not just people with pre-existing conditions. ”

Earlier in the pandemic, only a small fraction – 7% – of people dying from COVID-19 had no underlying medical conditions. 14% of deaths in LA County were now among people without underlying medical conditions, according to information provided by Ferrer.

“There are more people than ever who have not only died, but also without any underlying health conditions,” she said.

Gunzenhauser said the holiday season was brutal and that LA County expects the daily number of coronavirus cases to rise until January, which will put even worse pressure on crises.

“The holiday was a big challenge because the need for people and friends to celebrate these times is so strong,” he said.

Here’s a more detailed look at coronavirus rates by race and ethnicity.

Coronavirus daily case rate by race and ethnicity:

Latino: 1,696 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants of Latino
Black: 752 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 black inhabitants
White: 636 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 white inhabitants
Asian American: 519 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants of Asia

COVID-19 weekly rate of hospitalizations:

Latino: 80 hospitalizations per 100,000 Latino inhabitants
Black: 58 hospitalizations per 100,000 black inhabitants
White: 26 hospitalizations per 100,000 white inhabitants
Asian Americans: 26 hospitalizations per 100,000 Asian residents

COVID-19 daily mortality rate:

Latino: 16 deaths per day per 100,000 Latino inhabitants
Black: 8 deaths per day per 100,000 Black residents
Asian Americans: 8 deaths per day per 100,000 Asian Americans
White: 6 deaths per day per 100,000 white inhabitants

Times authors Thomas Suh Lauder, Luke Money, Maloy Moore and Kevin Rector contributed to this report.