Re “Study links new COVID-19 strain to surge in cases,” Jan. 21 issue

More infectious strains of all viruses, and currently in L.A. County’s case the CAL.20C, become the more dominant strain as they spread through communities.

To a medical probability, CAL.20C is significantly more infectious than the other strains that were prevalent through the spring and into the summer. This is probably the primary reason we had such a disproportionate increase in numbers relative to other cities this winter.

With a pre-pandemic annual budget of $980 million and with significant supplemental funding through the CARES Act, one should ask why L.A. County Department of Public Health wasn’t doing more viral genotyping weekly, and especially when the uptick in cases started to develop. We probably should have known this sooner and warned people who were at high risk [of hospitalization or mortality] to be extra vigilant in their lifestyles to protect themselves.

As outdoor dining had not been proven to be a cause of significant transmission and now retrospectively, [with] Pasadena’s restaurants not associated with any uptick in disease, L.A. County should have allowed outdoor restaurants and personal services to stay open for low-risk people who do not live with seniors, people with diabetes and others most susceptible to severe disease.

Our government leaders at both the county and city level should economically support scientific studies by researchers like Professor Dr. Wenjuan Zhang, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Leonid Kruglyak, the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Endowed Chair in Human Genetics at UCLA, and the similar experts at USC and City of Hope so that we have a better understanding of the genetics of this disease. They should also fund epidemiologic research from experts like UCLA Drs. Anne Rimoin and Alice Kuo, Neeraj Sood [and] Jason Doctor at USC Price, and Michael Hochman of the Keck School of Medicine. Despite the leading experts that Los Angeles has that do research in our backyard, our governments – federal, state and county – have failed to address this pandemic in a manner most likely to minimize morbidity, mortality and economic hardship.

Dr. Howard C. Mandel

President

L.A. City Health Commission