Malibu experienced an uptick in COVID-19 cases reported among residents in the week from June 29-July 5, with seven new confirmed cases—the first new cases recorded in the city since June 11. The total number of residents who have tested positive for the virus sat at 454 as of Tuesday, July 6.
The uptick coincided with growing concerns over local spread of an evolved version of the novel coronavirus known as the Delta Variant, which is considered to be much more contagious than the original strain of the virus which spread worldwide in early 2020. According to Yale Medicine, the strain spreads 50 percent faster than the Alpha Variant, which itself spread 50 percent faster than the original COVID-19 first discovered in early 2020.
Following California’s full reopening on June 15, health officials in LA County began urging county residents to resume wearing masks indoors just days later in late June, as virus cases began to increase to levels not seen since April 2021. As it has in the past, Malibu’s case rate—though numbers remain low—mirrors the rate of LA County, which has risen in recent weeks.
Malibu’s vaccination rate remained lower than the county average, with 58.8 percent of residents ages 16 and up having received at least one shot—a total of 6,471 people. Countywide, 68.7 percent of residents ages 16 and up have gotten at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot.