COVID-19 numbers rising for Ventura County millennials; experts cite behavior, test changes

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Numbers massive and small offer insight on why COVID-19 in Ventura County is trending toward millennials.

Of the 4,246 COVID-19 cases reported in Ventura County, 1,582 involve people ages 25 to 44 as of Friday. That far surpasses the 1,156 cases involving the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, ages 45 to 64, who once represented the largest swath of coronavirus infections.

Of those people in their late 20s, 30s and early 40s — a group that now makes up 37% of the county's COVID cases — only two have died. All of the county's 53 deaths involved people 45 and older.

The perception of lower risk may play a role in lax behavior regarding masks and social distancing that doctors contend contributes to COVID going younger.

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"I think behavior probably drives a lot of cases," said Dr. George Yu, a Camarillo pulmonologist. "If you’re not practicing the public face mask measures, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding crowds… you put yourself at risk."

Public health officials point also at self-delayed quarantines and changed protocols that have allowed asymptomatic people to be tested. They say the youthful trend is gaining momentum.

Of the county's about 1,800 cases still considered active as of Tuesday, more than 39% involved people 25 to 44. Another 18% involved people 18 to 24.

Taking chances

At age 42, financial analyst Miguelangel Arellano is at the back end of the age trend. The Oxnard resident never thought he was invulnerable.

Arellano is healthy and not in any high-risk group for the coronavirus. He was confident that if he caught it, he would be able to handle it.

"My thought was that if I get it I would be able to recover," Arellano said in a phone interview, noting he thought he would fall out of commission for maybe two weeks.

He wore a mask most of the time in public. But when the county was deep in lockdown mode, he still socialized. When businesses started reopening, he bought snacks at mostly maskless convenience stores and ate at restaurants.

He tested positive for the virus on June 26 after symptoms, including full-blown fever, chills and lungs so congested he could barely breathe. On Tuesday, a pulmonologist told him, the virus helped bring on pneumonia.

The doctor also told Arellano the two-week recovery wasn't going to happen.

"I’m in week three right now. He thinks I have another two or three weeks to go," Arellano said, noting fatigue means he has to take a break after five minutes of household chores.

It's been a rough and scary ride. And that's why Arellano decided to tell his story.

"I just want people to know the virus is real. I didn’t expect it would hit me so hard," he said, urging people to do more to protect themselves and protect others.

"People need to learn to live with this virus," he said. "I don’t think it’s going to go away anytime soon."

Testing changes opened flood gates

On April 1, when Ventura County's reported COVID-19 cases totaled 160, nearly seven  of 10 involved people 45 and older. By early June, the majority of cases involved people 44 and younger.

As of Friday,  nearly 63% of the county's cases involved people 44 or younger. About a quarter of the cases involved people 24 and younger.

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Erin Slack, epidemiologist for Ventura County Public Health, said the rise in younger cases has been pushed in part by a surge in farmworker infections. She cited the more than 200 people infected at the Villa Las Brisas farmworker housing facility in Oxnard.

The majority of the cases were in the 25 to 44 age group, she said.

In the early months of the pandemic, the lack of testing supplies meant tests were reserved for people with symptoms, known exposure to the virus and those with higher risks of severe illness.

In late May, the county opened up free drive-through sites where no symptoms are required for testing.

That gave younger people more access to testing, said Slack.

County officials don't know symptom information in all of the COVID cases, but in those instances where they do know,  more than 20% of the positive cases were asymptomatic, meaning people showed no symptoms.

The rising numbers are also driven by what people do after being tested at drive through sites, Slack said. Rather than quarantining themselves, they sometimes return to their jobs and routines, taking action only after they get the test results.

The delays can increase the chance of the virus spreading.

Over a 14-day period, more than half of the positive cases involved an infection that spread within the same household from one person to at least one other. The numbers may have been driven by the outbreak in the Oxnard farm housing complex but the trend of household spread is not new. 

"We've seen that the whole entire time," Slack said.

'Craving that social interaction'

Because younger people often don't become as sick as older people, they may not ever be admitted to a hospital or even see a doctor.

Still, of the 31 people treated at Ventura County Medical Center's emergency room for COVID symptoms over a recent 48-hour period, 17 were younger than 45.

"I think if you see a trend in the ER, there’s probably a bigger trend in the community," said Dr. Rick Rutherford, an emergency department physician at the hospital. He contends the changing demographics is likely rooted in younger people not wearing masks, ignoring social distance rules and gathering with friends and outside family members.

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People are getting more restless as the pandemic continues, he said.

"I think people are just craving that social interaction," he said.

The gamble often misfires because while younger, healthy people have a greater shot at a less severe illness, there are no guarantees.

People of any age and of any health can have complications like strokes, pneumonia and heart attacks.

"The younger generation is not spared," said Yu. "When you get sick, you get really sick... It’s not good for anyone to catch the disease."

Francisco Rodriguez, 40, of Oxnard, went to bed one night in April with chills so bad his whole body was shaking. The symptoms grew worse: a 104-degree fever, severe headaches and respiratory issues that made it hard to breathe.

At one point, he was losing his breath so fast he couldn't walk, couldn't even tie his shoes.

He learned his diagnosis on his second trip to the Ventura County Medical Center.

"We found the reason you’re feeling the way you’re feeling. You got the virus," he said of what the doctor told him.

He returned home and quarantined but ended up hospitalized for 12 days, first at Santa Paula Hospital and then at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura.

Two of those days were spent in the intensive care unit.

"I had to fight for my life," said Rodriguez.

Some two months later, he's feeling recovered but has told it could take months, even years, to get his lungs back to full capacity.

Rodriguez describes himself as a clean freak who took the virus seriously and followed safety guidelines, though sometimes he went into stores without a mask.

He'll never know exactly how he acquired the virus. His message is blunt.

"This thing could take your life," he said urging people to wear masks and stay away from people. "It is real."

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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