New Guidelines for Indoor Dining, Gyms, Movie Theaters in Pasadena Under ‘Red’ Tier Expected Thursday

Pasadena saw a second straight day of single-digit COVID-19 infections on Wednesday as the region stood on the verge of transitioning into the “red” tier of the state’s COVID-19 framework as early as the end of the week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that Los Angeles County was likely to become eligible to move out of the current, most-restrictive “purple” tier and into the “red” tier as soon as Friday, as the state was expected to meet its goal of vaccinating 2 million high-risk Californians across the state. The vaccination goal was recently linked to reopening guidelines, allowing the process to accelerate once met.

“Red” tier status allows for increased activity including indoor dining at up to 25% capacity and limited reopenings of movie theaters and gyms. Schools would be eligible to open for in-person instruction through 12th grade.

But even once the region becomes eligible for the loosened restrictions of the “red” tier, any policy changes will have to come from local health agencies, such as the Pasadena Public Health Department.

A determination was yet to be made Wednesday as to whether Pasadena would choose to keep any more stringent policies in place, Derderian said.

“We are reviewing the latest information and will hopefully make an announcement (Thursday) regarding the specific guidelines,” she said.

Officials at the L.A. County Department of Public Health were also sorting out exactly how they would respond to the expected new tier status. County guidelines were expected to be released Thursday.

Officials said vaccine eligibility in the agency’s jurisdiction was expanded Wednesday to include custodial and janitorial workers, public transit workers and airport ground crew workers, along with social workers who handle cases of violence and abuse, and foster parents providing emergency housing for young people.

The Pasadena Public Health Department reported 5 new COVID-19 infections and two additional deaths on Wednesday, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. The deaths had occurred previously, but were only just added to the city’s data.

The new figures raised the city’s overall totals to 11,003 known infections and 322 deaths. Over the prior week, Pasadena recorded an average of 7.7 daily infections.

At Huntington Hospital, officials reported treating 30 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, with eight of them being housed in intensive care units.

According to the latest figures available, 38,408 Pasadenans had received at least one dose of a two-vaccine regimen, and another 22,349 had received both doses.

The county reported another 119 COVID-19 deaths. The new deaths lifted the countywide death toll from throughout the pandemic to 22,213.

Another 1,514 cases were announced by the county, although L.A. County Director of Public Health Babara Ferrer said that number included a “few hundred” cases attributed to a reporting backlog. The new cases raised the cumulative pandemic total to 1,206,713.

According to state figures, there were 1,056 people hospitalized in the county due to COVID as of Monday, with 309 people in intensive care.

As of Friday, 2,415,460 doses of COVID vaccine had been administered in the county. That includes 814,593 second doses, representing the number of people who have been fully vaccinated.

State health officials announced 6,412 new infections and 226 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the statewide totals to 3,513,678 COVID-19 cases and 54,621 fatalities.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week inched upward to 2.4%, while the 14-day average was recorded at 2.3%.

As of Wednesday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 41% of the state’s deaths.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Newsom Confirms LA County Likely To Move To Red Tier By Friday