Free testing remains available at LA County Public Health clinics.
“But just as March 2020 is now indelibly etched in our collective consciousness— a watershed moment when daily life screeched to a — March 2023 may be remembered as when COVID-19 officially went from top of mind to back of mind.”
From my perspective, I was concerned that we would experience another January surge as wehad in 2021 and 2022 but that never materialized (Figure below)
We are now in our current and expected Spring lull in cases, seen in all years of the pandemic -although 2020 should be interpreted cautiously given that we were under shelter-in-place orders.
Current prevalence rates (active cases per 100 population) are the lowest they have been at less than 0.1% – so fewer than 1 case per 1000 individuals – since October of 2022 (Figure below).
Estimated Prevalence Rate (per 100 individuals) of SARS-CoV2: Los Angeles Country, California
One common mantra that has been repeated throughout the pandemic is that of “more cases,more hospitalizations, more deaths.” This is a pattern currently holding in the inverse with deathrates also now at historic lows as case rates are at seasonal lows as well. However, in 2023 withearly detection from accurate home testing and widespread availability of Paxlovid, mortalityrates now stand at 0.02 deaths per day per 100,000 population (equivalent to 2 deaths per dayin LA County, with 10 million people). The last time mortality was this low?
The week of March 17th, 2020.
The figure below is a log transformed graph which shows more clearly just how much mortalityrates have dropped/
Similar to the County’s experience, we too have seen a massive decline in cases sinceNovember 2021 when we had 29 new cases (and 5 repeat infections). Thus far in April we havehad only 3 cases (2 of which were repeat infections)
This past week, the FDA amended the terms of its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for theModerna and Pfizer bivalent boosters, permitting individuals 65 and older and those withunderlying immunocompromise to have an additional dose (providing that it has been 4 monthsfrom the last).
In conversations with patients about this new recommendation, I’ve found myself clarifying a fewaspects of the FDA’s communication:
Follow us on social media accounts for timely updates
Visit Our Website And follow Our Blog Posts