Since the week of August 19, COVID-19 cases have been rising steadily and steadily all over Los Angeles. Starting around July, cases of Covid were starting to rise once again since the summer of 2022. Many people believe the cause of this rise is from once again all the traveling from summer vacations and huge crowds of people again. 

Hospitals all around LA County are now requiring patients to wear masks following the recent surge in COVID cases. Since the beginning of July, LA County has reported its first increase of the year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported “8,033 new hospital admissions for the week of July 22.” That is a 12.1% increase compared to what last week has shown. 2023 started off with 48,040 cases and is still increasing with Covid protocols no longer mandatory, This leaves the chance for another surge in cases every day. Hospitals aren’t surprised to see this sudden surge in cases. They’ve said, “We’ve seen this pattern over the last three summers, and have tried to warn people to still be cautious of what they touch and their surroundings.” As heard in 2020, Doctors are highly recommending and should be the narrative to wash your hands after touching anything and if you are sick to stay home and avoid unnecessary outings. Not only do rises in covid cases affect the general public but it also affects schools and students who might not be vaccinated or have family who are at greater risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms.

Many schools across LA County have already reported rises in Covid cases across multiple school districts, causing an increasing amount of concern on how students and schools will be affected by this sudden surge. School districts like LAUSD’s Esteban Torres’s East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy have already started implementing Covid-19 protocols. After a sudden surge in students testing positive as early as the first week of school around August 14. The school has already taken steps to ensure positive students go home as soon as they are alerted and provide them with multiple at-home test kits for the students’ families. Diana Martinez the assistant principal for Elara confidently said, ¨As soon as a student tests positive we will tell them to immediately upload the positive result onto the Daily Pass website so we have a record of it, as well as inform parents about isolation protocols asking them to keep the student at home for 5 days until they can present a negative covid test and no fever.” She also mentioned, “We have noticed there has been a little bit of a spike and we are trying to keep up with it but the problem is students aren’t uploading their positive result onto the Daily Pass which is making it harder for us to keep track of who’s sick so I think that needs improvement.” Elara is highly encouraging students to test themselves if they are feeling any type of sickness. The school is aware of Covid-19’s new symptoms and if you are feeling any fevers, appetite loss, nausea, difficulty sleeping, dry cough, or loss/change in taste and smell, to test yourselves immediately, and if positive alert a staff member immediately, and don’t forget to upload the positive test result onto the Daily Pass. Elara wishes everyone to stay safe during these spikes and to try to limit unnecessary outings or gatherings during this time.