2 New COVID-19 Deaths Reported in Pasadena as New Infections Continue Decline

Pasadena health officials on Tuesday reported the lowest number of new COVID-19 infections since mid-November at 23 but added two additional fatalities to the local death toll.

Both of the recent fatalities were residents of long-term care facilities, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. Their ages were not available.

Newly reported infections reached the lowest level reported since Nov. 16, according to city data. Pasadena has witnessed an overall trend of steadily decreasing numbers of new infections since the figures peaked in early- and mid-January.

Since the onset of the pandemic in March, the city has recorded a total of 10,531 cases of COVID-19 and 280 associated deaths.

Huntington Hospital officials reported a continued slow but steady decline in new COVID-19 admissions, with 111 COVID-19 patients being treated on Tuesday. Twenty-two of them were being treated in intensive care units.

Over the prior week, an average of 12.6 COVID-19 patients had been admitted to the facility daily.

At the regional level, Los Angeles County public health officials reported 3,353 new infections and 227 additional fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the countywide totals to 1,152,239 cases of the virus and 18,360 deaths.

Just under 4,080 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 throughout the county, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Twenty-nine percent of them were being cared for in ICUs.

Among the new infections were five cases of the UK variant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, known as variant B.1.1.7, the agency said in a written statement. In all, eight such infections have been detected.

“The B.1.1.7 variant is more easily transmissible, and verification of the variant in L.A. County means residents and businesses must be extremely diligent adhering to all public health safety measures, including wearing face coverings, distancing from others, and handwashing; these measures protect against transmission of the virus and known variants,” the statement said.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said the county appeared to be on the brink of a major breakthrough, so long as numbers continued trending down.

“We are only weeks away from reducing transmission in L.A. County to a level where elementary schools will be allowed by the state to offer in-class instruction, provided they adhere to all state and county directives,” Ferrer said. “Schools that decide to open will need to require masking, distancing and routine testing. Please do your part to continue to slow the spread so that our recovery journey does not suffer a setback.”

The California Department of Public Health announced 8,251 newly detected infections and 327 fatalities on Tuesday.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week had dropped to 4.8%, according to the CDPH. The 14-day average was 5.6%.

As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 41% of the state’s deaths.