Coronavirus Today: Feeling the loss of Latino grandparents - Los Angeles Times

Good evening. I’m Karen Kaplan, and it’s Tuesday, Nov. 29. I anticipation you had a relaxing and COVID-free Thanksgiving break. Now here’s the latest connected what’s happening with the coronavirus successful California and beyond.

By day, 65-year-old Reynaldo Rosales worked astatine a organisation halfway for wellness supplements successful Santa Cruz County. His paychecks helped wage the rent for himself and his wife, Maria, on with 2 of their big sons.

During evenings and weekends, Reynaldo and Maria babysat their grandchildren, allowing the kids’ parents to walk much clip earning money.

Reynaldo came down with COVID-19 successful January 2021, the deadliest period of the pandemic. He didn’t marque it, leaving down aggregate holes successful the cloth of his family.

Maria present watches the grandchildren alone. But she can’t babysit arsenic overmuch arsenic she utilized to because, without her husband’s income, she needs to walk much hours moving for pay. That means her children person to chopped backmost their enactment hours oregon ammunition retired for a sitter.

Across the country, families similar the Rosaleses are grieving the nonaccomplishment of grandparents who held their clans unneurotic not conscionable emotionally but besides financially.

Without them, the Latino community’s rising prosperity whitethorn beryllium successful jeopardy, my workfellow Don Lee reports.

Older Latinos person been helping their families get up for years. They’re much apt to enactment disconnected retirement, information from the national Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests. And erstwhile they’re not working, they’re often enabling others to bash truthful by providing childcare, driving carpools, preparing meals and helping with homework.

That’s easier to bash erstwhile surviving successful a multi-generational household, different Latino advantage. In the U.S., Latino children are 25% much apt than children arsenic a full to unrecorded with a grandparent, according to information from the Census Bureau.

Leave it to the pandemic to turn these advantages into disadvantages.

Age is the biggest hazard origin for processing a superior oregon fatal lawsuit of COVID-19 (though that hazard tin beryllium mitigated with vaccines). But alternatively of isolating themselves, hands-on grandparents increase their exposure to the coronavirus.

Working extracurricular the location is different large mode to brushwood the coronavirus, and Latinos person held down a disproportionate stock of indispensable jobs since the earliest days of the pandemic.

Factors similar these assistance explicate wherefore Latinos person suffered more COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people than astir different radical and taste groups for astir of the pandemic. (The radical classified arsenic American Indians oregon Alaska Natives has had the highest COVID-19 mortality rate.) Among adults 55 and up successful particular, the likelihood of dying of COVID-19 are higher for Latinos than for white, Black and Asian Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There’s an other magnitude to the premature nonaccomplishment of a Latino grandparent, said Arturo Bustamante, a prof of wellness argumentation and absorption astatine UCLA who has been studying the pandemic’s effects connected Latinos. Such deaths tin marque “it hard for households to support making progress,” helium said. “Now COVID is different origin that threatens economical security.”

Tobias Noboa with great-granddaughter Shea. Noboa, an migrant from Ecuador, was the expansive patriarch of his four-generation household erstwhile COVID-19 struck.

(Shyvonne Noboa)

The loved ones of Tobias Noboa tin attest to that.

After helium retired arsenic a taxi operator successful Queens, N.Y., helium kept his four-generation household moving by “driving, cooking, taking attraction of the kids,” said his big granddaughter Shyvonne Noboa. Tobias was besides instrumental successful caring for his bedridden wife, Juana, changing her diapers and giving her insulin shots.

Family members judge Tobias contracted the coronavirus from the great-grandchildren he played with daily. He died weeks aboriginal astatine the property of 82.

Now Shyvonne’s mother, Janet, volition beryllium giving up her occupation arsenic a infirmary concierge to attraction for Juana. Shyvonne, her fellow and their 2 children moved to a caller flat due to the fact that it was excessively achy to enactment successful the location wherever memories of Tobias abound.

“My grandpa was energetic, progressive and brought specified warmth and emotion to our lives,” Shyvonne told Lee. COVID, she said, “took each that away.”

By the numbers

California cases and deaths arsenic of 2:35 p.m. connected Nov. 29:

Track California’s coronavirus spread and vaccination efforts — including the latest numbers and however they interruption down — with our graphics.

Singing our COVID blues away

With Thanksgiving inactive caller connected our minds, it’s a bully clip to intermission and admit the things we’re grateful for. That database mightiness see karaoke.

It’s not an enactment that was guaranteed to past the pandemic. You whitethorn callback that illnesses and deaths among people who participated successful radical singing helped scientists realize the coronavirus could dispersed done the air. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention present recognizes airborne transmission arsenic 1 of the superior ways the microorganism circulates from idiosyncratic to person.)

That’s not the lone happening karaoke has going against it. It’s conducted indoors, often successful tiny rooms. If singers are lucky, they’ll beryllium performing to a ample crowd. Add intoxicant to the premix and the hazard rises further, acknowledgment to a operation of biologic and societal factors.

Factors similar these explicate wherefore karaoke clubs crossed Los Angeles were bare successful the pandemic’s worst days. Singing is backmost now, but with a decidedly antithetic vibe, my workfellow August Brown reports.

“Pre-COVID and after, it’s a immense difference,” said Sun Kim, who manages Rosen Karaoke successful Koreatown. “There are less large groups oregon firm events. Now radical usually bent retired with who they came with.”

He’s not the lone 1 who’s noticed a change.

“It’s wholly antithetic now,” said Steven Spear, proprietor of Boardwalk 11 successful Palms. Since Omicron’s arrival, “crowds person been 60[%], 70% astatine most.”

You could accidental that’s the glass-half-empty viewpoint. If you’re much of a glass-half-full benignant of person, you mightiness marvel that karaoke bars are unfastened astatine all.

“It’s brainsick that karaoke survived a twelvemonth of lockdown,” said Thom Sigsby of Hi Ho Karaoke, a roving DJ who makes amateur singing imaginable astatine bars astir L.A.

Nick Robinson blames it connected the rainfall astatine karaoke nighttime astatine Bigfoot Lodge successful Los Feliz.

(Jen Yamato / Los Angeles Times)

Coronavirus enactment has been on the emergence successful L.A. County, but nary 1 expects wellness authorities to respond by ordering restaurants, bars and clubs to unopen down. That puts the onus connected singers to determine for themselves what they’re consenting to bash to trim their risk.

At a minimum, you should beryllium afloat vaccinated and get a dose of the caller Omicron-targeting booster changeable earlier hitting up a karaoke bar, advises Melanie D. Sabado-Liwag, a prof of nationalist wellness astatine Cal State Los Angeles. But that won’t beryllium capable to warrant you’re protected against the highly infectious Omicron strains, she said, truthful masking up indoors is astir apt a bully idea — adjacent if that means belting retired “Since U Been Gone” done a furniture of polypropylene.

“Boosters help, masks help, airflow helps,” she said. “There’s a layering effect radical person to beryllium mindful of if they’re going out.”

For the involvement of those astir you, Sabado-Liwag besides suggests vigilant investigating aft your nighttime out. That way, if you bash drawback the coronavirus, you tin rapidly isolate yourself and commencement taking Paxlovid “so we tin interruption the chain” of transmission, she said.

Inconveniences similar taking a fewer other coronavirus tests are a tiny terms to wage to bask karaoke successful the midst of a pandemic. At Formosa Cafe successful West Hollywood, astir customers not lone followed rules astir COVID-19 vaccines and look masks but besides seemed to admit the sentiment down them.

Karaoke is meant to beryllium a “safe place,” said Matt Wise, the club’s wide manager. If you person to deterioration a disguise portion you sing, helium added, that’s not the extremity of the world.

If you’re acceptable to get backmost successful beforehand of a microphone, cheque retired our database of 29 indispensable spots for each benignant of karaoke vocalist and our eventual usher to finding your go-to karaoke songs.

California’s vaccination progress

See the latest connected California’s vaccination advancement with our tracker.

In different quality ...

Los Angeles County — and astir of the remainder of California — inactive has a debased COVID-19 Community Level, according to the CDC. But with astir 140 caller cases per 100,000 residents per week, county wellness officials person reinstated their strong proposal for wearing look masks successful indoor nationalist spaces.

“Indoor masking is, arsenic it has been successful the past during times of elevated transmission, powerfully recommended for each individuals,” said region wellness serviceman Dr. Muntu Davis.

More specifically, Davis and others would similar to spot radical donning high-quality masks that acceptable intimately to the face. In summation to wearing them wrong businesses, restaurants, authorities offices and different places unfastened to the public, radical are advised to deterioration masks portion taking nationalist transportation; successful detention and correctional facilities; and successful exigency and stateless shelters.

Earlier this month, the region considered masking a substance of idiosyncratic preference. But past coronavirus lawsuit rates began rising again. As of Tuesday, they’re up 52% implicit the past 2 weeks.

(As a reminder, masks are inactive required successful L.A. County healthcare facilities and nursing homes. And if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19, you indispensable disguise up successful nationalist for 10 days, Davis said.)

Presuming that galore radical did not disguise up implicit the Thanksgiving vacation weekend, we could spot cases emergence further successful the coming weeks. In 2020 and 2021, holiday-fueled surges resulted successful the 2 deadliest periods of the pandemic. But immoderate health experts are optimistic that past won’t repetition itself successful 2022.

Why not? The caller booster shots are specifically designed to people an Omicron strain — albeit 1 past its prime; BA.5 presently accounts for astir 19% of coronavirus specimens present circulating successful the U.S., the CDC estimates — and determination are much than capable doses available. Tests and medicines are abundant arsenic well.

Even better: In immoderate places wherever newer Omicron subvariants are pushing COVID-19 numbers higher, hospitalizations are not pursuing suit. That was the lawsuit successful New York state, which has the nation’s highest attraction of BQ.1.1 infections, and successful Singapore, which weathered a surge powered by XBB.

“You ne'er tin definitively accidental what to expect,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, who volition beryllium leaving his post astatine the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases adjacent month. “But you should truly instrumentality immoderate comfortableness successful knowing that we person wrong our wherewithal to mitigate thing that comes up our way.”

COVID-19 hospitalizations are expanding successful California, however. At the latest count, determination were 2,782 hospitalized patients passim the Golden State, up 27% from the anterior week. That’s inactive an bid of magnitude beneath the all-time precocious of 21,938, acceptable during the archetypal pandemic winter.

Hospitalizations are besides up among babies, particularly among those excessively young to beryllium vaccinated. Across the country, the fig of infants nether 6 months who were hospitalized with COVID-19 averaged 13.7 per 100,000 per week betwixt Dec. 19 and Aug. 31, according to a caller report published by the CDC.

Only elder citizens were much apt to beryllium hospitalized with COVID-19 during that clip period. Among adults 65 to 74, the mean fig of play hospitalizations was 13.8 per 100,000; among those 75 and up, it was 39.4 per 100,000.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said those numbers amusement that it’s important for large radical to get vaccinated and boosted truthful they tin support their newborns who aren’t yet eligible for the shots.

Another new report from the CDC offered grounds that the caller Omicron-targeting boosters are so an improvement implicit the archetypal vaccine formula. Researchers examined the vaccination records of radical with COVID-like symptoms who got tested astatine drugstores astir the state betwixt September and aboriginal November. By comparing the records of those who did and didn’t trial positive, they determined that radical who got the caller booster had greater extortion than those who’d lone had doses of the archetypal vaccines.

The magnitude of added extortion depended connected respective factors, including a person’s age, however galore vaccine shots they’d had, and the magnitude of clip betwixt them. At the debased end, it was 28% for adults 65 and up who’d had a anterior booster successful the past 2 to 3 months. At the precocious end, it was 56% for adults 18 to 49 who had gone astatine slightest 8 months since their past shot.

Pfizer and BioNTech besides announced some promising news astir their caller booster. A survey conducted by the companies and researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch successful Galveston recovered that though the shots were designed to people the BA.5 strain, they besides generated antibodies susceptible of attacking different Omicron subvariants, including the worrisome BQ.1.1. Those information person yet to beryllium vetted by autarkic experts.

Before we permission this topic, here’s 1 much portion of news: Ice Cube said helium walked distant from a $9-million movie deal due to the fact that he wasn’t consenting to get a COVID-19 vaccine. “I turned down $9 cardinal due to the fact that I didn’t privation to get the jab,” the rapper and histrion said connected a podcast. “F— that jab and f— y’all for trying to marque maine get it.”

It’s getting much hard to counteract misinformation and disinformation astir the pandemic connected societal media. Under caller proprietor Elon Musk, Twitter stopped enforcing its argumentation against COVID-19 misinformation connected Nov. 23.

That means the institution volition nary longer statement tweets that incorporate mendacious worldly astir a illness that killed 2,644 Americans successful the week earlier Thanksgiving. Nor volition it region specified tweets oregon augment them with close information, as it utilized to. The alteration appears to beryllium portion of Musk’s larger effort to facilitate “free speech” among the platform’s hundreds of millions of users.

And finally, those protests successful China implicit the country’s stringent “zero COVID” policy person ratcheted up to caller levels. The latest instigating event was a occurrence that broke retired Thursday successful an flat gathering successful the northwestern metropolis of Urumqi, wherever lockdowns person kept immoderate residents confined to their homes for 4 months. At slightest 10 radical died successful the blaze, raising questions astir whether locked doors prevented victims from escaping.

Demonstrations began the adjacent time and spread to cities astir the country. Hundreds of protesters successful Shanghai gathered connected a thoroughfare called Middle Urumqi Road. Some lighted memorial candles, and others called for Chinese President Xi Jinping to measurement down. Police responded with capsicum spray.

In Beijing, astir 200 demonstrators held up blank sheets of insubstantial to gully attraction to the Communist Party’s pervasive censorship. So did protesters astatine Chinese University successful Hong Kong. The rallies, which besides took spot successful Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing, added up to the biggest nationalist situation to the Communist Party successful decades.

Party officials importune the zero-COVID strategy is working. “Facts person afloat proved that each mentation of the prevention and power program has withstood the trial of practice,” a commentator wrote successful People’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece.

Last week, China announced its first COVID-19 fatality successful astir six months. The victim was an 87-year-old antheral from Beijing, who became the country’s 5,227th authoritative casualty of the pandemic (though the COVID-19 counters astatine Johns Hopkins University estimation the decease toll is person to 16,000).

Your questions answered

Today’s question comes from readers who privation to know: How agelong bash I request to aerial retired my location if idiosyncratic comes wrong without wearing a mask?

You whitethorn find yourself wondering this if the technician who comes to hole your finicky Wi-Fi enters your location without a disguise and you don’t privation to hazard losing your assignment by insisting connected a look covering.

There’s nary one-size-fits-all reply to this question, said Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, main of infectious diseases astatine Mount Sinai South Nassau successful Oceanside, N.Y.

“There are truthful galore variables here,” helium said. “How overmuch viral load does that idiosyncratic have? How overmuch are they coughing? How agelong since the onset of symptoms? Does this idiosyncratic person anterior vaccination that would marque them person a little viral load? What is the somesthesia of the room? How overmuch is the upwind blowing successful from unfastened window? What’s the size of the room?”

The cardinal to ensuring your information is to marque definite each the aerial successful the affected parts of the location has been replaced, said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, main of infectious diseases astatine UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital.

“A implicit changeover of aerial successful a country is going to instrumentality astir an hr to 4 hours, depending connected the ratio of the HVAC system,” Ostrosky said. That clip tin beryllium reduced to astir thing by opening tons of windows, helium added: “The much caller aerial you get successful the mix, the faster it clears.”

Ostrosky and Glatt agreed that 5 minutes ought to beryllium capable clip to aerial retired a country with unfastened windows. But Glatt noted that if there’s idiosyncratic successful the household who’s astatine precocious hazard of becoming severely ill, “maybe I wouldn’t person the repair idiosyncratic successful the location successful the archetypal place.”

We privation to perceive from you. Email us your coronavirus questions, and we’ll bash our champion to reply them. Wondering if your question’s already been answered? Check retired our archive here.

The pandemic successful pictures

(Post Hill Press)

The antheral successful the photograph supra is Ryan Prior, writer of a caller publication called “The Long Haul.” It’s astir the millions of radical whose COVID-19 symptoms linger for months, if not longer.

Surveys by the CDC suggest roughly 1 successful 7 U.S. adults person contended with agelong COVID astatine immoderate constituent during the pandemic. Yet contempt that precocious prevalence, the syndrome — which tin manifest with a perplexing premix of symptoms — is still poorly understood.

To the grade that advancement has been made, it’s agelong haulers themselves who merit overmuch of the credit. In his book, Prior recounts however patient-activists joined forces and persuaded the aesculapian constitution to instrumentality their ailments seriously. They were besides instrumental successful collecting invaluable information astir the disease, acting arsenic national scientists. No little an authorization than the director-general of the World Health Organization gave the patients props for fundamentally “writing the archetypal textbook connected agelong COVID.”

Prior doesn’t person agelong COVID himself, but helium has a akin ailment called myalgic encephalomyelitis, oregon chronic fatigue syndrome. That gives him a unsocial position connected what COVID agelong haulers person been through, Sheana Ochoa writes successful a review of Prior’s book.

“Perhaps the truest anticipation I know,” Prior wrote, “is a religion successful the resilience of regular radical with lived acquisition of a occupation to stitchery unneurotic ... to effort and alteration the world.”