Pasadena City Council Officially Ends COVID-19 State of Emergency

The Pasadena City Council unanimously voted to end its local emergency due to COVID-19 which had been in effect since March 2020 — during their meeting on Monday , March 6. 

The City Manager Proclamation of a Local Emergency and the Health Officer Declaration of a Local Public Health Emergency in response to COVID-19 which were both approved unanimously by the City Council at that time, allowed the city to mobilize City resources, accelerate emergency planning, streamline staffing, coordinate agencies across the city, facilitate seeking and utilizing mutual aid, and allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments.

According to the the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD), the emergency declarations can now be terminated as the spread of COVID-19 has decreased locally and the need for continued resources to respond to the ongoing pandemic are now within the control of the city. 

“Since early December, COVID activity in Pasadena has remained low. Cases have steadily declined since the first week of December,” said Acting Public Health Director Manuel Carmona.“The experience that we had since the beginning of December is very different from what we’ve seen over the last two years.” 

Carmona said the local health department also sees stabilization of hospitalization rates. 

“We’re not seeing a severe illness despite an emergence of a new variant  XBB.1.5,” said Carmona. 

Despite recommending the termination of the proclamations, Carmona stressed that the pandemic has not yet ended. 

“This should not be construed as an end to the pandemic overall,” said Carmona, as he added that the PPHD continues to recommend that everyone consider their personal and environmental factors to assess their risk of contracting COVID-19 and take actions to protect themselves and others.

Carmona said the health officer will retain authority to implement health orders even without a local health emergency. 

According to Carmona, the Health Department staff are evaluating the updated guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health on March 3 to assess if there is a need for supplemental guidance.

To date, a total of 442 Pasadena residents are reported to have died due to COVID-19.

PPHD has so far investigated 42,281 reported confirmed and probable cases; administered 42,628 vaccines; distributed 32,090 COVID-19 tests and over 100,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to the community and long-term care facilities.

The department has also maintained a public data dashboard with key COVID-19 indicators and investigated over 3,000 outbreaks at businesses, facilities, and schools. 

The PPHD will continue to offer free COVID-19 boosters and will maintain the COVID-19 data dashboard through the end of March. After this month, COVID-19 surveillance will transition to routine communicable disease surveillance, according to Carmona. 

Members of the City Council lauded members of the PPHD for helping the city get through the pandemic.

“I didn’t think this day was ever going to come but we are here today,” said Councilmember Tyron Hampton. “We are in a much better place than we were so thank you so much.” 

“The health department has faced a lot of departures and some really bad stuff but you guys really held in there,” said Vice Mayor Felicia Williams. “Thank you for all of your hard work. We are so fortunate to have our own health department.”

“When a world pandemic hit, suddenly [having your own health department] – I won’t say [became] a burden but pretty close to it  because we had to move quickly, staff up and when we look to the county and others they look at us and say ‘you’re on your own’,” said Mayor Victor Gordo.“It’s because of all of you and the employees of the health department that we were able to overcome that burden and make it a real victory.”