COVID-19 cases on the rise in LA County schools
Los Angeles County's health director Barbara Ferrer Wednesday voiced her concern as the number of COVID-19 cases at local schools rises.
Public Health said there were 5,918 positive cases at L.A. County schools during the week ending on May 15.
Of those cases, 4,723 were students and 1,195 were staff members.
"While we recognize that many children who test positive experience mild illness, national trends are showing increases in cases and hospitalization rates for children and more concerns about long term impacts of even mild infection in children," Ferrer said.
"We encourage parents, students, teachers, and staff, during this time of high transmission with the most infectious strains seen to date, to wear a mask when indoors and get vaccinated and boosted when eligible."
County health officials also reported 16 school outbreaks during the week that ended on May 21.
Meanwhile Wednesday, the county reported an additional 4,202 new COVID cases and six deaths.
The number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals was 410 as of Wednesday, down from 419 on Tuesday.
