Via The Los Angeles Times: COVID outbreaks plague LAPD and fire agencies, data show. Excerpt:
Los Angeles County health officials have identified hundreds of coronavirus outbreaks at police and fire agencies since the start of the pandemic, according to data obtained by The Times through a public records request.
The outbreaks, accounting for more than 2,500 coronavirus cases, have occurred in public safety agencies large and small across the county. More than half, however, were in just two agencies: the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department — where members are actively fighting public health measures to control such spread.
Of 211 identified outbreaks of three or more coronavirus cases at police or fire agencies in L.A. County between March 2020 and last month, 112 were linked to the LAPD and LAFD, according to the data.
The LAPD had 37 identified outbreaks, accounting for 1,061 cases, while the LAFD had 75 identified outbreaks, accounting for 553 cases, the data show.
Another 18 outbreaks were identified at the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, accounting for 334 cases, and 44 at the L.A. County Fire Department, accounting for 211 cases, the data show.
The figures reflect a consistent and ongoing spread of infection within police and fire stations from the start of the pandemic through the present, and offer an important backdrop to the growing effort by police officers and firefighters to push back on measures such as vaccine mandates.
In response to a new L.A. ordinance mandating that all employees be vaccinated by next month unless they are granted a medical or religious exemption, both LAPD and LAFD employees filed lawsuits challenging the requirement. Thousands more have filed notice that they intend to claim an exemption.
City officials have said that 56% of LAPD employees and 58.5% of sworn LAFD employees have been fully vaccinated, according to recent data. Those rates lag behind the 68% of L.A. County residents 12 and older who are fully vaccinated, according to county data.
Most LAPD officers who have tested positive since June were unvaccinated. Ten LAPD employees have died from the virus.
