by Kevin Cody
Approximately 50, mostly older people who attended a book reading at the Hermosa Beach Historical Museum last Thursday received an email Monday evening advising them that an attendee has tested positive for COVID-19. The email from Historical Society president Greg McNaly advised recipients to follow recommended medical guidelines.
Beach Cities Health District Chief Medical Officer Dr. William Kim said this week, that persons exposed to a COVID-19 patient should quarantine for at least five days, and then have a nasal swab test for the disease to be sure they are not asymptomatic. Nasal swab tests are available at pharmacies. Home tests, he said, are not reliable.
The Delta variant, which accounts for an estimated 98 percent of current LA County COVID-19 cases, generally produces symptoms within five days, Dr. Kim said.
(At the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, the CDC advised people exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine for 14 days because early variants of the disease could take up to 14 days to produce symptoms.)
Dr. Kim said almost 50 percent of his COVID-19 patients were vaccinated, but that their symptoms are significantly less severe than those not vaccinated.
“None of my vaccinated patients have experienced low oxygen levels, requiring hospitalization. I have a middle aged couple who were not vaccinated who have been hospitalized for two weeks,” he said.
Dr. Kim said he advises people not to attend gatherings. People who do attend gatherings, he said, should mask, social distance, and have a negative test two days prior to the event.
Event hosts, he said, should require attendees to show proof of vaccination and also proof of a negative test within the past two days, to protect against asymptomatic carriers. ER
