Health Official Tells City Council of 4 More Local COVID-19 Deaths

A Pasadena health official announced four more Coronavirus deaths on Monday, along with 13 additional cases.

The new numbers bring the death toll to 60 and the total case count to 452.

Coronavirus now the fifth leading cause of death in Pasadena, according to an update Dr. Ying Ying Goh told the City Council on Monday.

All of the deaths came from local long term health care facilities.

The numbers were released as mixed news regarding the virus came from state and federal officials.

White House officials announced new model numbers that say the number of fatalities could soar in June to 3,000 daily.

Despite those numbers, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he was moving the California reopening to Stage 2, which would allow some low-risk businesses to open, including book, clothing, toy, and sporting goods stores as well as music shops and florists.

Malls and dining rooms will not reopen.

“We are entering into the next phase this week,” Newsom said. “This is a very positive sign and it’s happened only for one reason: The data says it can happen.”

Those businesses that can reopen Friday will have to abide to restrictions, such as physical distancing and delivering orders at the curbside. Detailed guidelines about the Phase 2 reopening will be released on Thursday, according to Newsom.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidance on how long people who are positive for COVID-19 should self-isolate. New evidence suggests it may take longer for the virus to shed, which means that an infected person may be able to infect other people for a longer period of time than was initially thought. People who are positive or presumed positive for COVID-19 should now self-isolate for 10 days and 72 hours after fever and symptoms subside. This means you must stay home until your fever has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in your respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) for at least 3 days (72 hours) after recovery, AND at least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared or you were tested. If you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is presumed to be infected with COVID-19, you must quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with that individual. If you begin experiencing symptoms, you must self-isolate for 10 days and 72 hours after fever and symptoms subside. Individuals who are elderly or who have underlying health conditions may be at higher risk of serious illness and should contact their doctor as soon as they are sick.

An interactive dashboard is available that provides an overview on COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths along with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity. To view Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, visit: http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/

Additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov