Pasadena Public Health Director: ‘Our Healthcare System Is Strained to Its Limits’

Public health officials in Pasadena and county-wide have made a final plea to the public to lessen the impact of a predicted COVID-19 “surge on top of a surge” by not gathering with anyone outside of their households over the holiday weekend.

The city saw 129 new infections and one new death, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

In total, Pasadena officials had recorded 6,021 cases of COVID-19 and 151 deaths.

The recent death was that of a man in his mid-40s who had no underlying health conditions, Derderian said. No information regarding how he contracted the virus was available.

Pasadena’s highest-ever single-day count of new infections was 201, recorded on Dec. 17, according to city data. The city’s average daily infections over the prior week reached a peak of 29.4 on Monday before beginning to taper downward.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 170 COVID-19 patients on Thursday, with 32 of them in intensive care units. The average number of COVID-19 patients admitted over the prior week was calculated at 24.9.

“Unfortunately, we’re currently seeing the highest number of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with a 900% increase in the number of new cases each day, compared to the beginning of November, now at 125 new cases a day in Pasadena,” Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Ying-Ying Goh said.

“This has resulted in a surge of hospitalizations and deaths and is not showing any sign of decreasing. In fact, we are expecting an additional holiday surge on top of this surge,” she said.

“Our healthcare system is strained to its limits, with intensive care [availability] in Southern California at 0%,” according to Goh.

Daily confirmed #COVID19 infections are up 900% since early November. Mixing of households over Thanksgiving fueled this surge. People with negative COVID test results before gathering ended up spreading COVID at the gathering. Be safe. Stay home. DON’T GATHER this holiday. pic.twitter.com/qrTYUhVlu3

— City of Pasadena (@PasadenaGov) December 24, 2020

“Huntington Hospital has set up tents in the parking lot,” she said. “Ambulances are lined up outside because beds are not available. And the healthcare workforce across the state is not only scarce, but also tired.”

The healthcare system was simply unable to keep up with the demand, Goh said.

“It means the high-quality healthcare that we are accustomed to is not likely to be available to us when we need it for any reason, not just COVID-19,” she said.

Goh urged the public to learn from the recent past.

“We know activities around thanksgiving that caused mixing between households, even small gatherings, fueled this current surge. We saw outbreaks because people who had negative test results before gatherings still spread COVID-19 at the gatherings,” she said.

The unprecedented speed at which the virus is spreading has created a more dangerous environment for all.

“We’re seeing cases in every type of setting in Pasadena, and the same type of activities that we were doing a few months ago that might have brought us into contact with others are much riskier now, because the number of people infectious with COVID-19 is much higher,” Goh said.

“The safest way to celebrate the holidays this year is to stay at home and celebrate only with the people you live with,” she said.

“It’s not too late to change your holiday plans,” Goh urged. “Please do not travel at this time, do not have people over and decline invitations to mix with other households. The fewer people you and your household have in-person  contact with, the lower your risk of getting COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health urged the public to avoid traditional religious gatherings to avoid contracting or spreading the virus. While such activities are Constitutionally protected, health officials said they are nonetheless dangerous at this time.

“No matter what a Superior Court judge says and given what’s happening now, it is simply too risky to gather indoors with other people who do not live with you,” the agency said in a written statement. “Public Health urges you to continue to more safely worship as you have during the pandemic by attending remotely via streaming service or at outdoor services only.”

L.A. County health officials announced 13,678 new COVID-19 infections and 148 new deaths, increasing the county-wide totals to 677,299 cases of novel coronavirus and 9,299 deaths.

Just under 6,500 patients were hospitalized in the county with COVID-19 on Thursday.

Total COVID-19 cases in California reached 2,003,146 on Thursday after the California Department of Public Health reported 39,070 new infections.

With 351 new fatalities reported today, the death toll had reached 23,635, according to CDPH data.

The state did not reach 1 million cases until September, spanning a period of 6 months. Total infections doubled over the past 3 months.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior two weeks had climbed to 12.4%.

As of Thursday, L.A. County represented 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 39% of the state’s deaths.