COVID-19 Fatalities Persist as 2 More Pasadenans Die Friday

Two more people have died of COVID-19 and another 28 infections have been detected in Pasadena, authorities said Friday.

One of the recent deaths was that of a long-term care resident, while the other involved a member of the general community, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

The new figures raised Pasadena’s overall totals to 10,862 documented cases of COVID-19 and 314 associated deaths.

Over the prior week, the city saw an average of 17.1 new infections daily, according to city data.

Huntington Hospital officials reported a continuing decline in COVID-19 patients housed at the facility at 49. Eleven of those patients were being treated in intensive care units.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported another 144 COVID-19 deaths on Friday. Since the pandemic began, 21,246 COVID deaths have been confirmed countywide.

Another 1,838 cases were confirmed by the county, bringing the new total from throughout the pandemic to 1,189,363.

Although vaccine supplies remain limited, county health officials expressed hope that conditions will improve dramatically with federal approval of a single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The California Department of Public Health announced 5,400 new infections and 391 additional deaths on Friday, bringing the statewide totals to 3,465,726 cases of the virus and 51,382 deaths.

The CDPH reported the average positivity rate over the prior week had declined to 2.7%. The 14-day rate was 2.9%, which was the lowest since Oct. 26.

As of Friday, L.A. County represented 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 41% of statewide deaths.