Culver City Observer -

Contending with the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department reported yesterday that Covid-19 cases have been increasing most rapidly among children 5 to 11 years old, who are not eligible for vaccination.

Between August 14 and August 21, the rate of infection rose by 50% among children 5 to 11, 13% in children 0 to 4 years old, and 24% in children 12 to 17 years old, public health officials reported. Over the last week, the rate dipped 2-4% among the oldest and youngest groups, but it rose 9% among 5 to 11 year olds.

In K-12 schools countywide, 5,207 student cases and 729 staff cases were reported, with the vast majority occurring at LAUSD between August 15 and August 29, said public health officials.

"We average about 500 cases a day (among students) across L.A. County," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. "The largest portion of those cases are identified through routine screening, and these are really people who are in fact asymptomatic."

She added: "It's a sobering number because it's large, but it's actually helpful to be able to identify people who are infected with COVID before they show symptoms and before they have lots of opportunities ... to go ahead and spread that virus."

Public Health has reported the following Covid-19 totals for Culver City and LA County:

Cases in Culver City – 2729 as of 9/1

Deaths in Culver City – 112 as of 9/1

Cases in LA County – 2277 reported on 9/1 (1,409,545 cases to date)

Deaths in LA County – 38 reported on 9/1 (25,322 deaths to date)

Currently, there are 1,699 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in the County and 26% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 8,141,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Yesterday's daily positivity rate was 2.7%