In Unrelenting Cycle, Pasadena, L.A. County Again See Record Number of New Daily COVID-19 Infections, Hospitalizations

Pasadena health officials reported 122 new detected COVID-19 infections on Thursday, exceeding the previous all-time high, which was reported Sunday.

No additional fatalities were reported in the city.

Thursday’s count raised the city’s overall infections to 4,536, while the local death toll held at 138.

“Today was a record for cases and we are at a catastrophic place in this pandemic,” city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. “We are running out of ICU beds and healthcare workers are getting more overwhelmed and sick which takes a toll on the entire system, including the patients.”

“We must all follow the new state stay at home order that prohibits any of us from getting together with people we don’t live with, so we can turn this around instead of one surge leading into another as the holidays approach,” she said.

At Huntington Hospital, officials reported a record high number of 95 COVID-19 patients were being treated, with 18 of them in intensive care units.

The city’s average number of daily cases over the previous week also reached a new high of 94.4, according to city data.

Los Angeles County’s intensive care unit capacity rate fell to 7.7% on Thursday, less than half of the 15% capacity that triggered the current regional stay-at-home order, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health also reported a new record number of COVID-19 infections at 12,819. Officials also reported 74 new deaths, including the first death of a child with the COVID-19-related illness MIS-C.

“Today’s number of new cases surpassed the previous high on December 6 when the County experienced 10,528 new COVID-19 cases. L.A. County continues to experience a high number of new deaths and more new cases reported each day for COVID-19 than at any point during the pandemic,”  the agency said in a written statement.

Since the onset of the pandemic, L.A. County had recorded a total of  487,917 cases of novel coronavirus and 9,149 fatalities.

In another new record, 3,433 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county on Thursday, officials said. Twenty-three percent of them were being treated in intensive care units.

The first shipment of 83,000 vaccines was expected to arrive in L.A. County next week, with the initial doses expected to go to healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents, county officials said.

“This will hopefully be followed by two additional allocations of vaccine in December, followed by weekly allocations thereafter in the new year,” the county statement said. “The initial allocation will be sent to nine sites across the county with ultracold freezers, a requirement for the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccine will then be distributed to 83 acute care hospitals across the county and administered to healthcare workers prioritized based on risk.”

As the vaccines become increasingly available, officials will first prioritize seniors and those with chronic health conditions, authorities added. Wide availability for the general public was not expected until the summer.

Much of the spread of the virus was believed to be the result of travel and gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday, L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said.

“We are two weeks out from Thanksgiving, and we are witnessing the devastating impact of the actions people took over the holiday,” she said. “If a non-household family member or friend invites you over to spend time together, please kindly decline.”

“Without more people following the Public Health safety guidance, we are running a risk that could have catastrophic consequences, with hospitals becoming overwhelmed and severely ill patients not able to get the care they need,” Ferrer said. “We need to get back to what we did in the spring, at the beginning of the pandemic, when few people went out and we took seriously our responsibility to care for each other. This will slow the spread, protect those most vulnerable residents and prevent deaths. Our actions can save lives; please diligently follow all the safety guidance.”

County health officials announced the state’s highest-ever number of fatalities in a single day at 122, exceeding the previous record of 120 set just Sunday.

With 29,667 new cases of COVID-19 detected statewide, California had recorded a total of 1.45 million infections and 20,462 deaths.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week was 10%, with the 140-day average measured at 9%, according to a CDPH statement.

As of Thursday, L.A. County represented 36% of California’s total COVID-19 cases and 40% of the state’s fatalities.