Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. County COVID cases rising again

After months of declining COVID-19 case numbers following the winter surge, Los Angeles County is as soon as once more seeing new case and take a look at positivity charges improve, officers mentioned Monday.
The uptick is prompting renewed calls from officers for residents to get boosted in opposition to COVID-19 and apply warning through the spring holidays.
“Whereas outbreaks in lots of sectors stay low, Public Well being cautions that gatherings for Ramadan, Passover, Easter and Spring Break may ultimately result in extra circumstances and outbreaks,” the L.A. County Division of Public Well being warned final week.
The typical variety of each day new circumstances reported the final seven days has climbed to 960— a 23% improve from the typical of 783 from the week earlier than.
Monday’s 1.0% coronavirus take a look at positivity charge continues to be thought of low, however has been inching up in latest weeks, officers mentioned.
To date, COVID-19 deaths have remained low and hospitalization numbers are nonetheless secure in L.A. County, however Public Well being warned that New York Metropolis and different components of the nation are beginning to see small increases in hospitalizations a number of weeks after an infection numbers climbed.
The uptick in circumstances comes because the highly-contagious omicron subvariant BA.2 spreads in L.A. County.
For the week ending March 19, BA.2 accounted for 47% of sequenced specimens. That’s a significant improve from a month earlier than, when the subvariant accounted for less than 5% of samples sequenced, in line with the well being division.
This mirrors tendencies seen nationwide and throughout the globe as BA.2 now accounts for the overwhelming majority of sequenced circumstances.
L.A. County Well being Director Barbara Ferrer mentioned it’s necessary that residents get examined earlier than and after spring gatherings and masks up indoors in public areas.
“Whereas the County has made nice strides in retaining outbreaks in lots of sectors low via a lot of security measures, there are hundreds of thousands of susceptible residents in our communities, lots of whom are neighbors, relations, or co-workers,” Ferrer mentioned in an announcement. “For these people, growing transmission related to the BA.2 subvariant poses a really actual menace.”
The priority is about unvaccinated individuals.
In L.A. County, a sizeable chunk of the inhabitants stays unvaccinated.
To date, round 78.8% of the county’s inhabitants has obtained at the least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, in line with information from the county well being division.
Unvaccinated individuals had been 5 instances extra more likely to be hospitalized in comparison with totally vaccinated residents through the week ending March 2, well being division officers mentioned.
Those that haven’t gotten their photographs had been additionally eight instances extra more likely to die than residents who had been totally vaccinated, the well being division mentioned, citing information from the week ending March 18.
“The proof is turning into clearer that given the present permitted vaccines and the fact of a mutating virus, a few of us might want to increase our immune programs a few instances through the 12 months in an effort to be optimally protected,” Ferrer mentioned in an announcement. “This consists of these contaminated with Omicron over the winter, since pure immunity in opposition to SARS-CoV-2 additionally wanes over time.
She urged warning through the spring holidays.
“As we rejoice the spring holidays, let’s do our easiest to utilize the highly effective instruments at hand, vaccinations, boosters, testing, and masking, to maintain ourselves and people most susceptible to extreme sickness, as secure as potential,” Ferrer mentioned.

Los Angeles, Ca
Suspects outstanding after pursuit through downtown Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for four suspects who fled from a vehicle after a pursuit.
According to an LAPD spokesperson, officers began pursuing a gold Lexus for possible DUI around 1:30 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Stocker Street.
While being chased, the car drove east on the 10 Freeway and eventually the 110 Freeway before getting off at Stadium Drive, the spokesperson said.
After exiting the 110, police lost sight of the vehicle and called off the pursuit; however, it was found abandoned near 5th Street and Grand Avenue after the suspects fled the area on foot.
The four suspects were last seen near the upscale Biltmore hotel, police said. Video from the scene obtained by KTLA shows that the front airbags of the Lexus had deployed.
No further details were immediately available.
Alexis Lewis contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
Fiery crash in South Los Angeles hospitalizes pair of motorists

Two motorists were hospitalized following a fiery crash in South Los Angeles overnight, officials say.
The collision was reported in the 200 block of East 81st Street in the Florence neighborhood at 3:22 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The force of the crash caused one of the vehicles involved, a black pickup truck, to catch fire, video from the scene obtained by KTLA shows.
Footage also depicted the crash victims with visible injuries being treated by first responders.
Preliminary reports of the motorists being ejected in the crash were unable to be confirmed by LAFD.
No official word on the ages or genders of the victims was released, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Luis Zuñiga contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
Rape lawsuit against Jay-Z, Diddy dismissed by accuser's attorney

(NewsNation) — The lawsuit accusing Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 has been dismissed by the accuser’s attorney, according to new court filings.
The voluntary dismissal filing, obtained by Variety, said the accuser “hereby gives notice that the above-captioned Action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice.”
Prejudice prevents the accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” or her lawyers from refiling the lawsuit as it was first written.
Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company, issued a statement calling the dismissal “a victory.”
“The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was
without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims,” reads the statement, which was signed by Jay-Z.
The statement mentioned that his wife, Beyonce, and their three children have endured trauma as a result of the accusations.
“The court must protect victims, OF COURSE, while with the same ethical responsibility, the courts must protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence. May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally,” the statement continued.
Lawsuit accuses Jay-Z and Diddy of rape
Originally filed in October 2024, the suit named only Diddy. An amended complaint in December identified Jay-Z as “Celebrity A,” who was accused of raping the 13-year-old while “Celebrity B,” a female, watched.
Following the filing, Jay-Z released a lengthy response accusing the lawyer behind the accuser’s suit of attempting to blackmail him.
“What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” Jay-Z’s statement reads in part. “No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
Diddy indictment
Diddy has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges contained in an indictment unsealed the day after his Sept. 16 arrest. Charges include allegations he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees, and silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
He has remained incarcerated pending a May 5 trial after his bond request was denied for a third time in late November.
Combs’ indictment came after months of speculation about a possible federal investigation tied to civil lawsuits alleging abuse and sexual assault spanning more than 30 years.
The indictment alleges Combs lured in women with promises of a romantic relationship before using intimidation and threats to have them engage in prostitution at reported so-called “freak offs.” There, victims were allegedly drugged and told to engage in sex acts with male sex workers for an extended period while someone filmed them.
Combs allegedly kept some of the videos, sometimes without the victims’ knowledge. The indictment states that Combs and the victims often required IV fluids afterward due to physical exertion.
NewsNation’s Liz Jassin, Katie Smith and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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