Pasadena Surpasses 3,000 Cumulative COVID-19 Cases Amid Countywide Viral Surge

Detected COVID-19 cases in Pasadena topped 3,000 on Wednesday amid a surge in the novel coronavirus being seen across Los Angeles County, authorities said.

Fifteen new infections raised Pasadena’s total to 3,008 total infections since the start of the pandemic, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. The number of fatalities has held at 129 since the last COVID-19-related death was reported in the city on Oct. 8.

“[It’s] a milestone we hoped we would never meet, but unfortunately, numbers are rising and that could potentially bring more hospitalizations and even deaths,” Derderian said.

“We are very concerned about holiday gatherings and how people’s blatant disregard of guidelines and protocol can really have a negative impact moving forward,” she said.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 28 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday.

At the county level, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced 2,152 new infections and 22 additional fatalities.

The county had recorded a total of 327,964 cases of the virus and 7,216 deaths.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer took the occasion of the Veterans Day holiday to remind the public to do their part to help stem the spread of the virus through social distancing.

“Today, we celebrate and pay respect to our veterans for their service and sacrifice to our nation,” she said. “As more than 4,200 veterans have passed away from COVID-19 nationwide, we honor, celebrate and protect our veterans by doing our part to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

Hospitalizations continued to increase in the county, with 903 patients hospitalized with the virus on Wednesday, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement. Twenty-eight percent of them were being treated in intensive care units.

The county’s average positivity rate over the prior seven days stood at 5.6 percent, officials said.

State health officials reported 7,464 new infections and 69 new deaths on Wednesday, raising the statewide totals to 984,682 cases of COVID-19 and 18,070 fatalities.

The average positivity rate over the prior seven days was 4.3 percent, with the 14-day average at 3.8 percent, according to a California Department of Public Health statement.

As of Wednesday, L.A. County accounted for 33 percent of California’s COVID-19 infections and 40 percent of the state’s deaths.