3 Additional COVID-19 Fatalities Reported in Pasadena

Public health officials reported three additional COVID-19 deaths in Pasadena on Tuesday, but noted that only one of them took place this month, while the others occurred in January and March but were only just added to city data.

In total, the city has documented 344 deaths from the pandemic. Six new infections on Tuesday raised the local number of cases to 11,216.

All three of the newly documented fatalities were of men over 50 years old, city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said. All three were considered residents of the community, although one was staying at an independent living facility.

There were three reported deaths today. All three were males over 50 years old; one was Latinx and the other two were white. All three were community cases, though one of these cases was in an independent living facility. One died in January, one in March, and one earlier this month.

Officials at Huntington Hospital reported 11 COVID-19 patients were being treated at the facility on Tuesday, with a single patient being cared for in an intensive care unit.

The latest vaccination statistics released by the Pasadena Public Health Department on Tuesday showed 88,505 Pasadenans, or 75.1% of the population over the age of 16, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 60,031 residents, or 50.9% of the population over 16, was had been fully vaccinated.

Federal public health officials on Tuesday announced a revision to protocol, saying fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in public, unless they are in a crowd.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced it was following suit on Tuesday afternoon. The Pasadena Public Health Department had not revised its policy.

Meanwhile, the agency reported 326 new infections and 26 additional deaths on Tuesday, bringing the countywide totals to 1,232,079 cases of COVID-19 and 23,801 deaths.

Just more than 400 patients were hospitalized with the virus throughout the county, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement. A quarter of them were being treated in ICUs.

Based on the latest state figures released Tuesday, L.A. County had met the benchmarks to move in the least restrictive, or “yellow” tier under the state’s reopening framework.

“If the county maintains current levels or declines in the case rate and test positivity rate for an additional week, it is possible in early May for the county to move to the yellow tier,” the statement said.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer acknowledged the progress but urged against complacency.

“While moving forward in our recovery journey is a positive step, maintaining this progress requires both businesses and individuals to be vigilant in doing their part to reduce transmission of COVID-19,” Ferrer said.

“Moving into the yellow tier in Los Angeles County, which has a population of more than 10 million people, can bring increased risks to residents, especially those who have not yet been vaccinated,” Ferrer added. “This is the time for those 16 and older to get vaccinated so that as we once again go back to enjoying with our families and friends the many activities we love, we do so without fear.”

Authorities at the state level announced 1,445 new infections and five deaths on Tuesday, raising the pandemic totals to 3,633,185 cases of the virus and 60,208 fatalities.

It was not clear why the state’s listing of daily deaths was more than five times less than L.A. County’s.

The statewide average positivity rate over the prior week held stable at a record-low level of 1.2%, according to CDPH data.

As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 40% of the state’s deaths.