Last Day of 2020 Was Pasadena’s Worst Day of Pandemic

Pasadena saw its single worst day of the pandemic Thursday with a record number of both infections and deaths reported.

Ten additional fatalities were reported, along with 225 new infections, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

The figures shattered the previous peaks of eight deaths, reported on April 30, and 201 cases, reported on Dec. 17, according to city data.

In total, Pasadena had documented 6,879 cases of COVID-19 and 167 fatalities.

Pasadena Director of Public Health Dr. Ying-Ying Goh offered condolences to those left devastated by the virus.

“As we report numbers on the final day of 2020, we express our sympathies for those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19,” she said. “Today we end the year with 225 new cases and 10 deaths.  Due to extremely high numbers of daily new cases, today’s reporting represents both recent cases and some that were backlogged.”

“The 10 people who passed away included residents of skilled nursing facilities as well as people living in our community who appeared to be household contacts to younger people who traveled or attended gatherings,” Goh said.

“The new year provides an opportunity to renew our efforts and focus on the proactive measures that work well for stopping COVID-19: wear masks, don’t gather with people you do not live with, wash hands frequently and only go out for essential needs,” she urged. “The current stay at home order prohibits gatherings, but if you do still choose to go out on New Year’s Eve, quarantine for the next ten days to prevent your actions from harming others. Material items can be replaced, lives cannot.”

In another milestone, Pasadena’s average number of daily infections over the prior week had reached a new maximum of 141, city data shows.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 179 novel coronavirus patients on Thursday, with 31 of them being treated in intensive care units. The hospital’s average number of daily COVID-19 admissions had dipped slightly to 23.8, after peaking above 26 in recent days.

Los Angeles County also set a new record for fatalities at 290, along with 15,129 newly detected infections, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

The county had reported a total of  770,602 COVID-19 infections and 10,345 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

L.A. County officials also said the numbers were at least somewhat inflated by backlogged data.

More than 7,500 patients were hospitalized in the county with COVID-19, officials said. Twenty percent of them were being treated in ICUs.

As has been the case in recent months, “Younger residents continue to drive increases in community transmission in the county,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement.

“While the highest number of cases are among young adults, the individuals with the worst outcomes are those who are older,” the statement said. “We are also seeing increases in the rate of hospitalization among younger people. The hospitalization rate among people between the ages of 18 to 29 years old increased by 350% since November. Even children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old are being impacted – they have experienced a 200% increase in their rate of hospitalizations.”

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer took one final opportunity before the New Year to urge the public to comply with safety protocols.

“Unfortunately, the urgency has never been greater to protect those we love and all those essential workers caring for our loved ones in healthcare facilities and providing us with essential services,” she said. “Tonight, and throughout the weekend, we need everyone to stay home and celebrate the advent of the new year with just your immediate household. All it takes is one slip to have one exposure and the coronavirus has found another host, another victim. And, our dangerous surge continues.”

“As we head into a new year, we wish everyone peace and ask that we work together to save lives,” Ferrer said.

L.A. County’s overall positivity rate stood at 15%, while the daily test positivity rate was 22.5%, officials said.

California reached a grim milestone as 428 new fatalities raised the statewide death toll to 25,386, according to the California Department of Public Health.

State officials also announced 27,237 new detected infections, bringing the overall tally to 2,245,379.

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior two weeks was recorded at 11.9%, down from 12.5% on Monday.

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