Data Errors Stymie Coronavirus Data in Pasadena, L.A. County on Monday

Health officials at both the city and county levels reported far lower-than-normal new COVID-19 infections and deaths Monday, but warned that the figures were artificially low due to problems with data collection.

Pasadena Health Officials listed five new infections and no new deaths, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian.

But she cautioned that the true figure is likely higher due to problems with the county-wide COVID-19 information collection system.

“We don’t want to give a false sense of data,” Derderian said.

Huntington Hospital was treating 53 people for COVID-19 on Monday, according to hospital data. Fourteen tests remained pending.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 2,039 new infections and 17 new deaths Monday, but added that test results were incomplete.

“Public Health anticipates receiving a backlog of cases in the coming days,” the agency said in a written statement.

The county’s totals stood at 176,028 known COVID-19 infections and 4,375 deaths, officials said.

More than 2,000 people were hospitalized with the virus in L.A. County on Monday, with 29 percent of them in intensive-care units and 18 percent being treated on ventilators, according to the county statement. But those figures, also, were underreported, as they were missing data from five hospitals.

The virus continued to spread especially among people between 18 and 49, who have represented the majority of newly reported infections since May, County health officials said.

“People between the ages of 30 and 49 years old account for the largest proportion of cases and roughly the same proportion of cases as seen since May,” the statement said. “Other age groups are flat or decreasing slightly.”

L.A. County’s positivity rate was 10 percent on Monday, with just under 1.65 million COVID-19 tests administered.

“It has been 145 days since the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared in Los Angeles County,” L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said. “These past 145 days have given us time to learn a lot more about COVID-19 — how to coexist with it as we await development of treatments and vaccines, and how to slow the spread to give our health system a fighting chance of treating those who fall seriously ill.”

“We must drive compliance, containment, and collaboration efforts that will move with us into the long-term recovery that we all want to see happen as soon as possible,” she added. “There is mounting evidence that these strategies work. The task in front of us is to be able to thread the needle so that we continue with our recovery journey while protecting the health and well-being of our residents, our workforce and our community. We have to do both.”

L.A. County Public Health Department officials had identified 11,481 novel coronavirus infections among health-care workers and first responders, as well as 74 deaths.

“Health-care workers who are employed in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care facilities continue to make up the highest proportion of cases at 35 percent, but their percentage has been declining as the number of cases in outpatient settings rises,” the County statement said. “Nurses, including LVNs and practical nurses, continue to account for the most deaths (45 percent) and those who work in skilled nursing facilities represent the largest portion of the health-care worker deaths (65 percent).”

At the state level, the California Department of Public Health reported 6,891 new infections and 29 new deaths Monday.

That brought total COVID-19 cases in the state to 460,550, and total deaths to 8,445.

The state’s seven-day average of new cases daily stood at 9,859, up from 8,911 the prior week, state health officials said.

As of Monday, Los Angeles County represented 39 percent of all COVID-19 infections in California, and 52 percent of the state’s recorded deaths.