SpaceX Hit With Worst Covid-19 Outbreak in Los Angeles

The headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, is presently experiencing an outbreak of covid-19 far worse than another personal enterprise within the county, in accordance with the L.A. Times and a tally from the L.A. County Public Health website. At least 132 SpaceX workers have not too long ago examined optimistic for covid-19.

As the L.A. Times notes, there are an estimated 5,972 workers presently working on the facility and it’s unclear what sort of covid-19 protocols are in place. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who contracted covid-19 again in November of 2020, infamously predicted that the pandemic could be completed by April 2020.

Other companies with energetic outbreaks within the L.A.-area embrace the LAX airport FedEx facility, the place 85 workers have examined optimistic, the Staples Center, the place 12 workers have examined optimistic, and the navy contractor Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, the place 33 workers have contracted the illness.

This isn’t the primary outbreak tied to the SpaceX headquarters. Back in March of 2020, an worker who had not too long ago traveled abroad examined optimistic for covid-19, sending at the least a dozen different workers into quarantine. It’s not clear what number of workers finally examined optimistic for covid-19 on the time.

The U.S. reported 268,307 new instances of covid-19 on Monday, an exceptionally massive quantity seemingly attributable to a backlog from over the weekend. The seven-day common for brand new instances within the nation is 142,973. The U.S. additionally reported 1,756 new deaths from covid-19 on Monday.

The new omicron variant has turn out to be dominant within the nation in simply the span of every week, accounting for roughly 73% of latest instances, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control. The omicron variant accounted for simply 2.9% of instances every week earlier than.

Getting vaccinated continues to be one of the best ways to guard your self and your family members from dying and critical sickness in the course of the pandemic. But simply 61.4% of Americans have been absolutely vaccinated in opposition to covid-19, one of many lowest charges amongst rich international locations.

Health consultants additionally advise everybody to get a booster shot once they’re eligible, which appears to essentially assist battle in opposition to critical illness as nicely. Moderna simply introduced on Monday that its booster was working very nicely in opposition to omicron. In truth, a booster from Moderna boosted antibody ranges 37-fold, in accordance with CNN.

Yes, covid-19 is surging throughout the U.S. and it may be tremendously miserable to know that the pandemic isn’t over simply but. But there are instruments accessible that weren’t round presently final yr. Humanity can get by means of this if we work collectively. Get vaccinated. Get boosted. Wear a masks whenever you’re indoors. One day it will finish. It has to.