LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County is doing significantly better than New York City so far in this latest spring wave of omicron cases, and officials remain hopeful that California can avoid the significant increases in coronavirus hospitalizations seen on the East Coast.
The New York City health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, said Tuesday that the city was entering a high COVID-19 alert level, warning that there is high community spread of the coronavirus and "pressure on the health care system is increasing." He reiterated a call to wear masks in indoor settings and also urged seniors or others at high risk of severe COVID-19 to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings and to avoid gatherings.
By contrast, L.A. County is poised to enter the medium COVID-19 community level this week, and "COVID-19 is not currently straining our health care system and our health care resources," L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday.
