TEMPORARY RESPITE FROM SURGE AS WHITTIER AREA RESIDENTS REDOUBLE EFFORTS IN FACE OF NEW DATA

There was some good news yesterday on the COVID 19 front. The data for yesterday indicates the number of new cases has dropped across the entire Whittier Area in face of not just increasing new cases but increased hospitalizations and even deaths. After reaching out to medical workers about whether they had seen an increase in COVID 19 patients at their facilities most medical facility staff in the Whittier Area told Whittier 360 that most if not all medical facilities in the entire Whittier Area were already filled to capacity with people who had serious life threatening symptoms of COVID 19. The number deaths had already increased substantially over the weekend with the City of Whittier now having had at least 4 of its residents die from COVID 19 this week, at least twice as much as in any previous week.

People are stepping up even as the debate over how to properly respond to COVID 19 continues. We are seeing early indications that the homeless may be carriers of the virus. At least 5 homeless in the Whittier Area have been hospitalized with COVID 19. But there is not enough data on that front because the homeless tend to move around and are often discouraged from staying in one community. That factor makes it almost impossible to track COVID 19 among the homeless population as communities continue to evict them. There is no information about cases of COVID 19 at local homeless shelters and other facilities serving the homeless as the counties have not been tracking that information. The lack of information on that front is the weakest link in the battle against COVID 19.

Some residents are claiming that COVID 19 is a conspiracy theory and there have even been claims that it was created to trick people into "accepting the mark of the beast". The claim is that the vaccines are actually microchips being planted in people to control their minds. The concept is based on a mixture pseudo science, religious extremism, and a dose of conspiracy theorism and very little scientific fact.

More and more people in Whittier are reporting personally knowing someone who died from COVID 19. An estimated 34% of Whittier residents said they knew someone who had died from COVID 19. The numbers could be higher when you account for those who have not volunteered such information.

There was only 1 death in the Whittier Area yesterday and it was in the City of Whittier. The City of Whittier has had at least 4 COVID 19 caused deaths this week.

The communities with the top 5 highest new cases were:

1. City of Whittier- 57

2. Unincorporated South Whittier- 46

3. City of Pico Rivera- 45

4. City of La Habra- 21

5. Unincorporated Hacienda Heights- 16

The Whittier Area had 232 new cases yesterday.

The top 5 positivity ratios were:

1. La Habra Heights-70.41% (artifact due to not enough people taking the test there)

2. Avocado Heights- 19.06%

3. Whittier Narrows - 18.52% (homeless encampment????)

4. Sunrise Village- 17.37%

5. Pellisier Village- 17.24%

For the City of Whittier the positivity ratio was 13.22%. For those living in Pico Rivera it was 16.21% and for South Whittier it was 15.63%. For the Whittier Area it was 12%.

The top 5 death ratios:

1. City of Industry- 4%

2. Rose Hills/Spyglass Hill- 3.33%

3. North Whittier-3.14%

4. La Habra- 2.7%

5. Pico Rivera- 2.46%

For the City of Whittier the death ratio dropped to 1.47%. For South Whittier it was 1.52% and for West Whittier it was 1.3%. For the Whittier Area overall the death ratio remained at 1.83%.