New COVID-19 Infections in Pasadena Continue to Decline, But Death Rate Remains Higher

Incidents of new COVID-19 infections continued to steadily decline in Pasadena on Monday but deaths of people who became infected during the recent holiday surges continued to mount.

Forty-nine new infections were detected in Pasadena and three new fatalities were reported, according to city data. All told, the city has recorded 10,261 cases of the virus and 256 deaths.

The three new deaths all involved men living among the community at large, as opposed to in long-term care facilities, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

Two of the men were in their 30s, with one suffering from a severe underlying health problem, she said. The third new victim was 64 years old.

Pasadena’s average daily infections over the prior week reached 62.3, which was the lowest rate recorded since Dec. 4.

Officials at Huntington Hospital reported treating 148 COVID-19 patients, with 23 of them being cared for in intensive care units.

Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer reported daily deaths are down about 33% from early January, but she called that a small decline compared to the 1,400% surge in daily deaths in December into January.

“This is a tragedy that we’ve yet to turn around,” she said.

The county on Monday reported another 85 deaths, lifting the cumulative death toll to 16,854.

Another 4,223 cases were also announced, giving the county a total from throughout the pandemic to 1,120,895.

Case and death reports are typically low on Mondays due to lags in reporting from the weekend.

According to state figures, there were 5,259 people hospitalized in the county as of Monday, including 1,415 in intensive care. The overall number is well below the daily average of more than 8,000 patients in early January.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of county Health Services, said emergency hospitals in the county reported a total of 816 available beds Monday morning, including 87 ICU beds.

But while the numbers are trending in the right direction, health officials urged residents to continue adhering to infection-control measures, particularly with more businesses reopened, such as outdoor restaurants.

“It is not time to relax. It is … time to remain super-vigilant against this deadly virus and continue to stay home as much as possible,” Ferrer said. “It is only by the actions that each business and each individual in L.A. County takes that we’re going to see this continued reduction in
transmission.”

Ferrer also repeated a message that will be heard often throughout the week — urging people to avoid gatherings for Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“We do know that the surge was driven in part by gatherings with those not in your household,” Ferrer said. “This is why we’re asking that during this time of continued high rates of community transmission, and the appearance of more infectious variants, please stay home on Super Bowl Sunday.

“This year, no one should create any additional risk that will come by hosting or attending a party with people outside their immediate household,” Ferrer said. “This Sunday, play it safe and enjoy the game at home with those who live in your household.”

At the state level, public health officials reported 15,358 new infections and 211 deaths on Monday, bringing the statewide totals to 3,258,706 cases of COVID-19 and 40,908 fatalities.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week fell to 6.5%, while the 14-day rate was recorded at 7.3%, according to the California Department of Public Health.

As of Monday, L.A. County represented 34% of California’s total COVID-19 infections and 41% of the state’s deaths.