‘I’m over it.’ Many in LA shrug off COVID-19 wave despite super-infectious subvariants
LOS ANGELES — There was a time during the pandemic when the scene at Westfield Valencia Town Center in Santa Clarita would have evoked gasps and much scolding.
As summertime temperatures flirted with 100 degrees this week, families and teenagers crowded into the indoor mall, soothed by its air conditioning. But there was nary a mask in sight, even though coronavirus infections are skyrocketing because of the ultra-infectious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Amid the carefree atmosphere, few seemed concerned.
“People are just exasperated and over it,” said Hailey Jimenez, 21, who was working at a jewelry kiosk, unmasked. “I know I’m over it.
“I haven’t really been paying attention too much to the numbers and all that, because I feel like it’s just happening every couple of months: down, up, up, down, down.”
Currently, the numbers are undoubtedly going up.
Officially, Los Angeles County has averaged 6,319 new coronavirus cases over the last week — nearly double the peak rate from last summer’s delta surge —
