Public Health to Host a Virtual Town Hall Tonight at 6 PM
Get Vaccinated to Protect Yourself and Others from Severe COVID-19 Illness
Wear a Mask in All Indoor Public Spaces
Reopening Schools
When to Seek Testing and Medical Care
City of Culver City Vaccination Requirements for City Employees
Choose Culver City
COVID-19 Counts in Culver City and LA County
1. Public Health to Host a Virtual Town Hall Tonight at 6 PM
Tonight, Wednesday, August 11 at 6 PM, Public Health will host a Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19. Join the town hall to get the latest updates on COVID-19, vaccines, reopening schools, managing outbreaks, and more. The town hall will be streamed live on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @lapublichealth.
2. Get Vaccinated to Protect Yourself and Others from Severe COVID-19 Illness
As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health highlights data showing that vaccinated people remain exceptionally well protected from severe COVID-19 illness.
Among the more than 5.1 million fully vaccinated people in LA County, Public Health identified less than 1% or 15,628 people fully vaccinated who tested positive for COVID-19 as of August 3. Of those who tested positive, 446 were hospitalized. This translates to 0.009% of all fully vaccinated people ending up hospitalized. Deaths in this group are also very low at 0.0008%, representing 41 people fully vaccinated that tragically passed away. This compelling evidence shows that fully vaccinated people remain at low risk for becoming infected and even lower risk for having a bad outcome if they are infected.
Now is a particularly critical time to increase vaccination uptake given the high level of community transmission.
Healthcare workers have been among the County’s highest-risk populations for COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic. As personal protective equipment (PPE) became more widely available and vaccinations increased among healthcare workers, their infection rates declined earlier this year. However, the County is now seeing transmission rise in this group: Between July 25 and July 31, 268 healthcare workers and first responders tested positive for COVID-19.
Healthcare workers are not uniformly vaccinated, and while consistent use of respirators and PPE reduces the likelihood of transmission within healthcare settings, unvaccinated workers are still at higher risk for being infected in their communities when community transmission is high. Because many healthcare workers have close contact with very vulnerable patients, it is therefore of particular importance to prevent infection in healthcare workers: the better protected they are, the safer it is for the vulnerable people they care for, and the easier it is to ensure that healthcare facilities are able to remain fully staffed during the pandemic.
Given the need to protect healthcare workers and the populations they care for, Los Angeles County will issue a Health Officer Order to align with State Orders that mandate vaccinations for healthcare workers by September 30. The County Order will also include three additional groups of healthcare workers: emergency medical technicians and paramedics, home healthcare workers, and dental practice employees. Over the coming weeks, the County will work collaboratively and closely with healthcare and labor partners to develop an effective education and implementation strategy.
If you are eligible for COVID-19 vaccine but have not yet been vaccinated, consider getting vaccinated now. LA County continues to offer vaccines at many different sites across the county to make it as easy as possible for eligible LA County residents to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Visit the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health website to learn more about how to get vaccinated now.
Need help? Call the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) Vaccine Call Center at (833) 540-0473 if:
You don’t have a computer or need help making an appointment
You need transportation to a vaccination site
You are homebound and need to get vaccinated at home
The DPH call center is open daily from 8 AM to 8:30 PM to help schedule appointments; dial (833) 540-0473 if you are in need of assistance. Information is also available in multiple languages 24/7 by calling 2-1-1. For more information, visit the Vaccinate LA County website.
3. Wear a Mask in All Indoor Public Spaces
LA County is seeing a surge in cases because of the more infectious Delta variant and gatherings of unmasked individuals where vaccination status is unknown. To slow the spread, masks are required in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status.
Masks work. When Los Angeles County reinstated universal masking indoors three weeks ago, the number of COVID-19 cases was doubling every 10 days. LA County is now seeing a slowing down in the increase of cases. Since LA County was the first county in California to reinstate masking, it is valuable to compare trends in LA County with those in the rest of the state.
Cases reported in the week ending August 1 compared with those reported in the week ending August 8 went from 19,704 cases to 20,979 cases, respectively, an increase of 6.5%. Meanwhile, in the remainder of the state, reported cases went from over 46,000 in the week ending August 1 to 55,422 in the week ending August 8, an increase of 20.2%.
Although there may be reasons beyond masking contributing to this difference, data from around the world and from LA County have repeatedly shown that masking is a valuable layer of protection.
4. Reopening Schools
With the recent increases in cases in both adults and children, many parents are anxious about sending their children back to school. LA County recently revised the K-12 school reopening protocols to layer in a variety of protections in order to prevent transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
Face coverings will continue to be required indoors for everyone regardless of vaccination status, including during indoor PE classes, unless a person is alone in a room.
Students who are exempt from mask wearing because of a documented disability or other condition should not be excluded from in-person education, and appropriate accommodations should be made on a case-by-case basis. Students who are excluded from campus because they elect not to wear a face covering should be offered alternative educational opportunities.
Public Health continues to recommend physical distancing as long as it does not interfere with full-time attendance for all students, and infection control remains essential.
And while schools have been working closely with Public Health over the summer to create environments that promote safety, communicating with your child’s school ahead of the start of the school year can help ensure they’re prepared to help keep themselves and their friends safe. Public Health recommends that you:
Talk to your kids about hand hygiene and appropriately wearing their mask. Also, it’s a good idea to send your child to school with extra face coverings so they can easily change masks if theirs gets wet or dirty.
Ensure you have a strategy for checking daily for symptoms at home, and as best you can, have an emergency childcare plan in place so that if your child becomes ill, they are able to safely stay home from school.
If any of your children are 12 or older, please let them know about the importance of getting vaccinated and help them get to a vaccine site where they can get the Pfizer vaccine.
5. When to Seek Testing and Medical Care
If you experience any of these symptoms, get a COVID-19 test regardless of your vaccination status and call your healthcare provider. You can either make an appointment or register on-site at any of the County’s testing locations. Go to County’s testing information website to find a location near you. Still unsure about whether or not your should get tested, try the CDC’s Coronavirus Self-Checker tool to help you make your decision.
6. City of Culver City Vaccination Requirements for City Employees
The City is encouraging the entire community to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible. In support of that goal, the City has sponsored several vaccination opportunities. You can find a walk-in vaccination clinic or make a vaccine appointment today on the My Turn website.
The City of Culver City mourns the loss of our residents who have passed away, which sadly includes the passing of residents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The County of Los Angeles Public Health Department tracks COVID-19 cases and deaths of County residents.
Culver City’s Case and Death Counts – as of August 10, 2021
Cases in Culver City – 2,546
Deaths in Culver City – 110
Cases in LA County – 2,622 new cases were reported yesterday (1,331,859 cases to date)
Deaths in LA County – 22 new deaths were reported yesterday (24,805 deaths to date)
There are 1,503 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in LA County. Testing results are available for more than 7,530,000 individuals with 23% of people testing positive. Yesterday’s daily positivity rate was 4.6%. View additional COVID-19 metrics on the LA County COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard and the COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by City/Community table.
We want you to know that we are here for you. If you or another Culver City resident would like a check-in call for a quick chat, let us know. Our friendly City staff are making weekly phone calls to any residents 18 and older just to say “hi," see how you are doing, or offer information and resources. You don’t need a reason—we’ll call you. If you would like to sign-up for the weekly phone call program, give us a ring at (310) 253-6890 (Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM).
Questions? Call the Culver City Hotline
If you or someone you know has a non-emergency, non-medical need or question related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and you would like assistance, please email the City or call the City’s Coronavirus Hotline at (310) 253-6890 (Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM). If you email or leave a message at the Hotline after hours, please include your name, address, phone number, email address, and your need or question. In an emergency, please dial 9-1-1.
