Stunning spread of BA.5 shows why this California COVID wave is so different

[pstokely]

there's already an unenforced mostly ignored mandate on public transit and LAX

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-12/omicron-ba5-coronavirus

It’s also likely that some who have thus far avoided getting infected are no longer employing certain protective measures they did before, or are exposed to family members and friends who have loosened up on protective practices.

People are “taking more risks; they’re moving around; they’re traveling,” Chin-Hong said. Even in San Francisco, a number of people aren’t wearing masks at places where it was once ubiquitous, meaning there’s less peer pressure to wear a mask in areas where it was once commonplace, Chin-Hong said.

Those measures remain largely voluntary at this point in many public settings, but recent increases in coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have pushed L.A. County closer to potentially issuing a new mask mandate that would apply to indoor public places. The county already requires masking on public transportation and at airports, healthcare facilities and nursing homes, as well as at work sites where there have been three or more coronavirus cases over a two-week period.

If current trends continue, L.A. County could move from the medium COVID-19 community level — which is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and factors in case and hospitalization rates — into the high level as soon as Thursday.

[woodsprite]

1. Son and his GF's extended family went down to Disney on the autotrain.

Day 14 post trip, his GF, her mom, gdad all tested positive. Don't know if it was Disney, the train ride with all the people, or if they picked it up at work (teaching summer school). Son tested positive yesterday and the rest of our household is on symptom watch. Our "test to treat" site wouldn't give him the Pavlovid med despite the fact he lives with and interacts regularly with people who are at high risk and have autoimmune issues.

My boss didn't know she had COVID, thought it was a heart attack. She spent a week in the hospital even with being vaxed and double boosted. She said the nurses told her this BA.5 is a total mess and highly contagious.

At least I got through chemo/rads without being exposed. Hubby and I are still working from home because our office hasn't gone back yet. Kids, on the other hand - 2 in retail, 1 a school teacher so they're out in and around the public -- not to mention traveling.