Strong warning issued for those going through COVID: 'Be prepared. Everyone is going to get this'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- COVID-19 infections are hurtling through families, communities and workplaces and many people get infected when they least expect it.

Jenna Stewart of Topanga, who owns Canyon Adventure Vans, believes she contracted COVID at a small holiday gathering.

"My guard was down because I was triple vaxxed," she said.

Now Stewart, her family and nearly her entire staff has tested positive for the virus.

"Our whole team is out. There's only three of 12 of us who have tested negative consistently," she said.

Despite shortened quarantined times, Stewart is keeping everyone apart, asking employees to test negative before they come back to work. The omicron variant makes up more than half of the active COVID cases in California.

Los Angeles County is now seeing more than 20,000 new COVID cases a day. Working adults are responsible for driving up most of the cases.

"Adults aged 18 to 49 are most likely to get COVID and therefore spread COVID to others," said Barbara Ferrer, the director of L.A. County's Department of Public Health.

Pediatric cases continue to rise nationwide. Nearly 380 sick children are being admitted every day, according to recent statistics.

According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found among hospitalized 5- to 17-year-olds, fewer than 1% were fully vaccinated against the virus.

"Know that children, even though they tend to have a more mild case of coronavirus, they can absolutely get a severe illness, get hospitalized and even worse," said Dr. Alok Patel of Stanford Children's Health.

On Jan. 3, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to broaden Pfizer's vaccine booster eligibility to include 12- to 15-year-olds. Stewart received her booster, but her husband didn't get a chance to get his.

While her symptoms are mild, her husband's symptoms are not.

"He has just been miserable for more than a week. Just miserable," Stewart said.

With so many people testing positive, Stewart's advice is to try to find some rapid test kits, stock up on supplies and medical items such a pulse oximeter in case you get sick.

"Having this oximeter for blood oxygen gives me peace of mind," said Stewart. "Everyone's suffering right now, whether you're sick or not. So just go easy on human kind."