State’s COVID-19 surge linked to big parties, gatherings

LOS ANGELES — Younger adults are fueling California’s coronavirus pandemic like never before, health officials are warning, and massive parties and other large social gatherings are threatening to unravel the progress the state is making.

A second surge of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County has been fueled by skyrocketing growth in disease transmission and hospitalizations among the youngest adults. Residents under the age of 50 now make up 60% of new coronavirus cases in L.A. County, the county’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said.

Young people may feel they are at low risk of becoming seriously ill or dying of the virus. But experts say they can serve as “super spreaders,” easily transmitting the illness to others who are more vulnerable, especially older relatives.

It’s important to ask, Ferrer said, “why so many people are willing to put our entire community at risk during this unprecedented pandemic.”

A number of COVID-19 outbreaks have left younger adults infected in L.A. County. At least 45 people linked to three fraternities associated with the University of Southern California have become infected, as has a group of USC graduate students who have socialized and studied together and some who live together, Ferrer said.

“And at UCLA, we’ve seen a number of football players who returned to campus and tested positive,” Ferrer said.

The University of California, Berkeley in July reported that most of the 47 new cases reported in a single week stemmed from parties connected to fraternities. The outbreak was a factor in the university’s decision to go with fully remote instruction for the fall semester.

Health officials have been particularly dismayed at ongoing reports of large parties happening in the midst of the worst global pandemic in more than a century. An investigation has been launched into a party allegedly thrown for first responders at a Hollywood bar last week, despite a statewide order shutting bars down.

On Monday night, hundreds of people gathered at a mansion on Los Angeles’ Mulholland Drive at a party so big it attracted the attention of television news helicopters. The party, which drew numerous noise complaints before sundown, continued past midnight, when shots rang out, leaving one woman dead and four other people injured.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday night authorized shutting off water and electricity service at homes that had repeatedly hosted large parties in defiance of the ban on gatherings.