COVID-19 Infections Increase in Pasadena, L.A. County

New cases of COVID-19 in both Pasadena and Los Angeles County increased on Wednesday, rising to levels not seen since early-May, according to public health officials.

Pasadena Public Health officials reported 10 new infections, crossing into double-digits for the first time since May 2. In total, the city had recorded 11,347 cases of the virus.

The majority of the cases reported on Wednesday involved unvaccinated people, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

The death toll has remained at 349 since the last fatalities in Pasadena were reported on June 3.

The city’s average number of daily infections over the prior seven days increased to 3.3.

Huntington Hospital reported treating five COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, with one housed in an intensive care unit.

Los Angeles County also saw the largest single-day case count since May 2 at 422, officials said. Two additional deaths were recorded in the county.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Health had documented 1,250,240 infections and 24,883 deaths.

“While transmission in L.A. County remains low, L.A. County is seeing increases in cases and daily test positivity.,” the agency said in a written statement. “On June 15, the day of the full reopening, the County saw 210 new cases and the test positivity rate was around 0.5%. Nearly two weeks after the June 15 reopening, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has confirmed a doubling of both new cases and the test positivity rate; today’s case numbers are 422 and the test positivity rate is 1.2%.”

Although the increase is concerning to health officials, “Public Health notes the increases are still far below the surge levels over the winter of over 15,000 new cases and the test positivity rate of 20%,” according to the statement.

County officials said 255 patients were hospitalized with the virus as of Wednesday, with 25% of them being treated in ICUs.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said because of available vaccines, the county is in far better shape than last summer.

“Last year, we didn’t have the vaccine and there were increases in cases and hospitalizations that occurred after the Fourth of July holiday,” she said. “This year we have three powerful vaccines but there are still about 4 million residents that are unvaccinated and at risk of COVID-19 infection.”

“With small increases in community transmission and an increase in the circulation of the Delta variant, your best protection and the best protection for the County’s recovery are the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines,” according to Ferrer. “And while we are increasing the number of people with vaccination protection, sensible public health precautions, including masking and hand hygiene can support our recovery.”

The statewide positivity rate over the prior week also increased to 1.3%, up from 1.2% on Tuesday, according to the California Department of Public Health.

State officials announced 2,013 new infections and 24 deaths, but also announced that the overall case count had declined by 6,372 after duplicate data was removed from databases.

California’s pandemic totals stood at 3,710,454 infections and 63,023 deaths, according to CDPH data.

As of Wednesday, L.A. County represented 34% of California’s COVID-19 cases and 39% of the state’s deaths.