LA will not lock down amid increase of omicron cases

As COVID-19 infections increase in Los Angeles, county officials claim there will be no lockdowns in the near future. Instead, other safety measures will be used to combat the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the region.  

In a matter of days, the number of new infections in Los Angeles has more than doubled. Last Monday, the county reported 1,123 new infections. By Sunday, the number grew to 3,513 daily infections, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The number of California residents who have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 has also been on the rise for the past two weeks.

LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that the region is better prepared to face omicron than it was last year during the surge of COVID-19 in the winter.

“I know that the thing that’s top of mind is, do we see in this near future closing back down our stores, telling people they have to stay home? And my hope is no,” Ferrer said on Tuesday. “But that’s a hope. And it really depends on us being able to use these new tools we have to the best of our ability to actually be able to mitigate against this pretty big threat that we all face with Omicron.”

“We’re obviously going to look very carefully at what are the strategies that are appropriate as we see more and more cases,” she said. “But what I do want to note is we’re not where we were last year; we have new tools, so we don’t need to do what we did last year.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also said that Los Angeles is not planning to enforce a lockdown.

“I don’t see a lockdown. I think we’re so much better protected than we were,” he said. “I do think that restrictions such as masking indoors will continue, especially as these cases go up. We’ll have to follow our hospitalizations very carefully.”

Last year, Los Angeles enforced a strict stay-at-home mandate amid a surge of coronavirus cases. The order prohibited all public events and private gatherings with individuals outside of a person’s household.

To avoid a similar lockdown, Los Angeles is implementing other mandates instead. In November, Los Angeles adopted a strict vaccine mandate requiring all residents to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms, bars and other public spaces. LA County also requires masks for indoor public spaces.

On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said California will mandate boosters for all health workers. Since September, California requires health workers to be vaccinated against the virus.

“California will require healthcare workers to get their booster,” Newsom said on Twitter. “With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared.”

California is the second state to require boosters for healthcare workers.