No New COVID-19 Deaths Reported in Pasadena Tuesday for First Time in One Month

No new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Pasadena for the first time in more than a month on Tuesday, although 88 new infections were detected, officials said.

With late-added data added to the records system and sorted, it became apparent that the city had not gone a day without at least one COVID-19 fatality between Dec. 19 and Jan. 19, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian and Health Department Data. The surge in fatalities resulted in “a depressing total of 77 dearly departed decedents.”

At least another 13 Pasadenans have died since, Pasadena Public Health Department data shows.

Officials were hopeful that the surge in infections, and subsequent deaths, linked to the recent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays was coming to an end.

But while the grisly streak appeared to be over on Tuesday, it was too early to know for sure, Derderian said.

“While we do not have a death reported today, we often see about a week lag to receive the death certificates, and so this unfortunate trend could continue,” she said.

In total, Pasadena health officials had recorded 9,944 cases of COVID-19 and 237 deaths.

The city’s average daily infections over the prior week crept upward for the first time in more than two weeks, reaching 76.6. Prior to Tuesday, the city had seen a steady decline in the weekly average of new daily cases since the statistic peaked at 198 on Jan. 10.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 154 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, with 29 of them being housed in intensive care units.

At the county level, public health officials announced  5,927 new infections and 291 deaths.

Since March, Los Angeles County had documented a total of 1,085,044 cases of the virus and 15,592 fatalities, according to an L.A. County Department of Public Health statement.

Officials reported 6,307 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 county-wide. Twenty-five percent of them were being treated in ICUs.

The county’s daily test positivity rate was measured at 12%.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer reflected on the date, which marked the anniversary of the arrival of the novel coronavirus in the county.

“Today, as we mark the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in L.A. County, we remember the many people who died from COVID-19 over the past year and the many families that will forever be healing from their loss. May you find peace today and always,” she said.

“COVID-19 transmission remains very high in Los Angeles County. And while we issued a new health order that allows some businesses to reopen, this does not mean that we have stopped the spread of the virus,” Ferrer said. “The simple fact of the matter is that if we are not more careful than we have been in the past when sectors have reopened, case counts will rise again, creating the possibility of another surge. I know we’ve been battling this virus for a year now and all of us are tired of the restrictions, but we need to continue to be vigilant for a while longer.”

The California Department of public health reported 17,028 new infections and 409 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the statewide totals to 3,153,186 cases of COVID-19 and 37,527 associated deaths.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior week was recorded at 7.9%, according to the CDPH. The 14-day average was 9%, which was the lowest rate seen since Dec. 9.

As of Tuesday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s total COVID-19 infections and 42% of the state’s fatalities.