25 Additional COVID-19 Infections Reported in Pasadena

Both city and county officials again implored the public not to attend gatherings to watch the World Series on Tuesday as the region continued to see an uptick in COVID-19 infections.

Pasadena health officials reported 25 infections and no additional deaths. But six of the cases included in Tuesday’s tally were previously backlogged cases that were just added to local records, city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said.

No COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in the city since Oct. 8. In all, 2,795 COVID-19 cases and 129 deaths have been documented since the start of the pandemic, according to city data.

The Pasadena Public Health Department had also logged 60 “probable” infections, in which patients received positive antigen tests, but the diagnoses were not confirmed by more reliable molecular tests.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 20 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday.

Derderian joined Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer in urging the public not to let the excitement over the World Series lead to increased spread of the virus.

“We continue to warn about the dangers of gatherings and public celebrations because these events create many opportunities for COVID-19 transmission,” Ferrer said.

“We encourage all fans to watch and celebrate the World Series safely at home with members of your household and not in gatherings of any size, especially where people are cheering, yelling, and congregating in close distance without face coverings. Those situations increase the possibility for the virus to spread, putting you and your loved ones at risk,” she said. “Please take the necessary steps to protect each other and keep our county from stalling in our recovery.”

Public health inspectors found “many instances” of restaurant patrons not adhering to social distancing guidelines during last week’s World Series games, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement.

County health officials announced 1,586 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, along with 29 new deaths.

The county had recorded a total of  302,077 infections and 7,027 deaths, officials said.

“COVID-19 spread has increased in L.A. County, and this is a cause for concern,” according to the county statement. “At the beginning of October, the average reported cases were 940 per day.”

At the state level, authorities reported 3,188 new COVID-19 infections and 43 additional fatalities., raising the statewide totals to 904,198 cases of the virus and 17,400 fatalities.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior seven days had inched up to 3.2 percent, according to a California Department of Public Health statement. The 14-day average was 2.9 percent.

As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 33 percent of California’s COVID-19 cases and 40 percent of the state’s total deaths.

#COVID19 spreads easily and quickly in large gatherings of people, especially when there is cheering, singing, shouting, no face coverings, and lack of physical distancing. There are safer ways to support our sports teams and we have to do our part to slow the spread. pic.twitter.com/LSIGlGu6w7

— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) October 27, 2020