Official: California COVID surge could ease next month

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LOS ANGELES – The California surge successful coronavirus cases has unopen down schools and sidelined thousands of police, firefighters, teachers and wellness attraction workers but officials are hoping it volition beryllium short-lived.

“My anticipation is that, you know, by the clip we get to February, we’re connected the downside of seeing that monolithic magnitude of assemblage transmission,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.

California's fig of confirmed COVID-19 cases has soared five-fold successful 2 weeks and hospitalizations person doubled. LA County, the state's largest with 10 cardinal residents, reported much than 37,000 caller cases connected Thursday, which was the highest level since the pandemic started.

The leap is driven by the omicron variant, archetypal detected successful California successful precocious November. Health officials accidental adjacent interaction during vacation gatherings, particularly among unvaccinated people, has helped dispersed the highly infectious mutation.

But vaccinations and booster shots were protecting galore radical from terrible illness, wellness officials said. Fewer than fractional of infirmary patients with COVID-19 were determination due to the fact that of the infection. Most were hospitalized with unrelated illnesses, the region said.

“We bash spot this arsenic a surge that volition be, it is our anticipation and belief, short-lived,” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Thursday arsenic the metropolis announced that the microorganism had sidelined much than 800 constabulary and occurrence personnel.

Moore said it was taking an mean of 3 weeks for officers struck with COVID-19 to instrumentality to work.

San Francisco reported connected Tuesday that 167 officers were quarantined and 135 firefighters — some representing astir 8% of their forces — were absent owed to COVID-19. San Diego had astir 200 officers and different unit retired Tuesday, reflecting a akin percent of the department.

The surge besides has led to hourslong waits for COVID tests arsenic parents prepared to nonstop their children backmost to schoolhouse aft the wintertime break. While millions of trial kits person been distributed to counties, Gov. Gavin Newsom and authorities wellness officials person been criticized for backlogs.

Hundreds waited successful enactment Thursday morning, immoderate coughing and sneezing, astatine a trial tract successful Long Beach.

“I deliberation it’s precise overmuch going retired of control,” said Salvador Barragan aft self-administering his nasal swab. “I anticipation it calms down.”

Not lone are laboratory tests harder to get amid grounds demand, officials accidental they're taking longer to process due to the fact that COVID-19 besides has depleted the ranks of technicians.

One processing laboratory utilized by Santa Clara County has been sending samples to Texas owed to unit shortages, Dr. Jennifer Tong, subordinate main aesculapian serviceman astatine Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, told the Bay Area News Group.

Off-the support location tests besides are successful abbreviated supply.

The microorganism surge has been straining schoolhouse systems. District officials said each 54 schools successful West Contra Costa County, eastbound of San Francisco, volition beryllium closed Friday and Monday.

More than 5,000 students person been absent each time this week, oregon astir a 4th of those enrolled successful the territory of 28,000 students and the territory believes the coronavirus is to blame, spokesperson Ryan Phillips said.

One successful six of San Francisco’s 3,600 teachers were retired Thursday. Even with administrators, substitutes and others stepping successful determination weren’t capable teachers for each classroom, Superintendent Vince Matthews.

“This is the astir challenging clip successful my 36 years arsenic an educator,” Matthews said during a interruption from filling successful arsenic a sixth-grade subject teacher. “We’re trying to amended students successful the mediate of a pandemic portion the sands astir america are consistently shifting.”

Nearly 900 teachers and aides successful San Francisco called successful sick Thursday. A radical of educators had called for a sickout, arguing that the schoolhouse territory hadn't done capable to support them during the surge. They are asking for much investigating and for each students to deterioration medical-grade masks.

It wasn’t wide however galore educators who called successful sick took portion oregon had the microorganism oregon were retired caring for household members.

At Mission High School, pupil Jazmine Keel said much than 70 teachers joined the protest.

“There hardly were adjacent capable subs to instrumentality attendance,” she told KTVU-TV, though territory officials said classes weren't interrupted.

A akin sickout was planned for Friday successful the Oakland Unified School District. In an online station cited by the San Francisco Chronicle, organizers said Oakland schools “are facing the top situation successful surviving memory."

“Staff and students beryllium successful half-empty classrooms terrified that they volition beryllium the adjacent to get infected and bring the illness location to their loved ones," the property merchandise said.

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Associated Press journalists Eugene Garcia successful Long Beach, Jocelyn Gecker successful San Francisco and Christopher Weber successful Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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