Coronavirus Infections Continue Upward Trend in L.A. County; Pasadena Inches Towards 100 Deaths

The COVID-19 pandemic showed no signs of slowing down in Los Angeles County on Thursday as the state reported a record number of deaths.

Pasadena meanwhile reported its 98th death so far from the virus, on top of another 14 new cases.

California Department of Public Health officials reported 149 new fatalities state-wide due to the novel coronavirus and 7,031 new infections. Over the past week, the state averaged 8,043 new infections per day.

The state has seen an average of 73 deaths per day over the past seven days, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. He urged the public not to focus too much on daily figures, which can fluctuate greatly day-by day, in favor of weekly and bi-weekly averages.

State officials reported 114 deaths on Wednesday and 111 on Tuesday.

Prior to Thursday, the deadliest day of the pandemic had been April 22, when 115 deaths were reported, according to state data.

The average positivity rates in the state over the past seven-day and 14-day periods were both 7.3% on Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

Los Angeles County’s positivity rate over the past seven days was 9.2% on Thursday, L.A. County Department of Public Health officials said in a written statement.

“We continue to see increased community spread and we need our businesses and residents to support our community on this recovery journey,” L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said. “We ask everyone to continue to stay home as much as possible, to stay physically distant from people you don’t live with and to observe all the critical infection control precautions in place – wear a face covering, maintain physical distance, wash your hands and avoid crowds and confined spaces. This is especially important as we go into another beautiful summer weekend.”

County health officials reported 1,777 new detected coronavirus infections and 50 new deaths on Thursday. In all, 124,783 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, along with 3,689 deaths.

“The number of new deaths remains higher than the 7-day average of 24 deaths,” according to the county statement.

The largest single-day death toll in the county was 81 reported on April 18, according to county data. But L.A. County’s highest seven-day average of reported deaths reached its maximum of 45 in the second week of May.

Los Angeles County accounted for 42% of all infections in the state and 55% of all recorded deaths.

In Pasadena, fifty-seven COVID-19 patients were being treated at Huntington Hospital, hospital data shows.

Officials said 2,037 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the county on Thursday. Twenty-six percent of them were being treated in intensive care units, and 17% required ventilators.