L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn tests positive for coronavirus
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend, forcing her to miss Tuesday’s board meeting.
Hahn is tired, has a sore throat and is resting at home, said her communications director, Liz Odendahl. It is not clear where Hahn was infected.
“I am vaccinated and boosted but feeling pretty lousy and still have a terrible cough,” Hahn, 70, wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.
On the five-member board, Hahn represents the 4th District, which includes a portion of the South Bay along with the communities of South Gate, Huntington Park and Lynwood stretching east to Whittier and La Habra Heights.
Hahn’s positive test comes as California and the nation continue to contend with elevated levels of coronavirus transmission fueled by highly contagious Omicron subvariants. In L.A. County, officials say the summer coronavirus wave appears to be cresting.
L.A. County’s weekly test positivity — the proportion of conducted and reported tests confirming coronavirus infection — dipped from 15% in late July to 12% Monday, according to county data.
Hospitalizations, while higher than in May, June and early July, have also begun to level off in the past several weeks. As of Monday, 1,151 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized countywide.
Los Angeles County will not reinstitute a universal indoor public mask mandate after marked improvements in the region’s coronavirus case and hospitalization rates.
The improvements in case and hospitalization rates helped L.A. County avoid a mask mandate late last month.
Hahn said at the time that she preferred the county stay aligned with the state, which strongly recommends, but does not require, masking indoors in public places.
“Local businesses I know have been telling my office that they’re concerned about having to enforce this mask mandate when such a large portion of the population is against it,” she said.
Hahn is the latest local elected official, including several of her colleagues on the board of supervisors, to test positive this year.
In January, Supervisor Kathryn Barger contracted COVID-19. She wrote at the time that it felt like a cold, while acknowledging that “each person’s experience is different.”
Supervisor Hilda Solis tested positive in May. She wrote on Twitter that she experienced mild symptoms and encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and boosted.
Beverly Hills’ mayor and vice mayor also tested positive in May.
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