Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently said the novel coronavirus is spreading through California’s biggest county within households, The Associated Press reports.
What’s going on?
Garcetti recently spoke on CBS program “Face the Nation” about COVID-19’s spread through California, which has seen record case numbers and hospitalizations this fall.
Garcetti said the recent vaccine rollout “has made everybody so hopeful” that they relax on their behaviors, which has caused an increase in cases.
- “We cannot. We cannot let up,” the mayor said. “This is a virus that preys off of our weakness, preys off of our exhaustion.”
Garcetti said cases are spreading so fast that there’s a new case every six seconds, and it’s likely due to household spread, according to The New York Times.
- “This is something now that really is spreading in the home,” Mr. Garcetti said, adding: “It’s a message for all of America: We might not all have the same density as L.A., but what’s happening in L.A. can and will be coming in many communities in America.”
Context:
California has seen a high spike in COVID-19 cases in recent days. In fact, the state saw more than twice as many hospitalizations compared to one month ago, according to The New York Times. Intensive care units have been overflowing because of the surge, and others have been turned away due to the increase in cases.
- Four people in the state have been reported as infected with the new mutation of the coronavirus, too, which has been deemed more transmissible, according to NBC News.