Fatalities, New COVID-19 Cases Continue to Plummet in Pasadena, As Officials Urge Public Not To Let Up

The spread of COVID-19 continued to wane in Pasadena on Tuesday as public health announced 12 new infections.

For the second day in a row, no new fatalities were reported in the city.

New infections have been on a steady decline since Jan. 10, according to city data.

But deaths stemming from the viral surge that accompanied the Christmas and New Year’s holidays continued adding to the local death toll well into this month.

“Positive cases are at the lowest numbers we’ve seen for a long time, and our greatest hope is we don’t have to report further deaths due to the holiday fallout,” said Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian.

Derderian said public health officials would be watching in the coming days to see if there is any surge associated with President’s Day weekend.

At Huntington Hospital, which housed more than 200 COVID-19 patients last month, officials reported treating 87 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, with 20 of them being cared for in intensive care units.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported another 120 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, lifting the overall death toll throughout the pandemic to 19,215.

Another 1,260 cases were also confirmed, although the number is believed to be artificially low due to reporting lags from testing centers due to the long holiday weekend. The cases increased the cumulative countywide total since the pandemic began to 1,169,550.

According to state figures, there were 2,855 people hospitalized in the county due to COVID-19 as of Tuesday, with 876 people in intensive care.

That number is significantly down from the more than 8,000 patients reported in early January.

California Department of Public Health officials reported 5,692 infections and 64 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the statewide overall tallies to 3,412,057 cases of the virus and 47,107 deaths.

The average stateside positivity rate over the prior week declined to 3.5%, and the two-week average dropped to 4.2%, marking the lowest rate since Nov. 13.

As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s COVID-19 cases and 41% of the state’s fatalities.

 “As we wait for more vaccinations, please follow the rules and use all the tools we have to keep ourselves and others as safe as possible from becoming infected,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Any time you’re out of your home and around others, we ask that you keep physical distance and wear a mask at all times. Wash your hands frequently. Please don’t gather with people you don’t live with.

   “… Let’s commit to getting to the finish line of this pandemic the strongest way possible, by consistently doing the actions that prevent serious illness and save lives,” she said.

City News Service contributed to this report.