Pasadena’s Viral Surge Continues: 55 New COVID-19 Cases, 1 Death Reported Thursday

Pasadena announced 55 new detected cases of COVID-19 and one new death in the city on Thursday as public health officials throughout the region and the state scrambled to stem the accelerating transmission of the virus, including a nightly “limited” stay at home order issued by the governor.

Prior to Tuesday, when 61 cases were detected, the city hadn’t seen so many infections in a single day since May 20, according to city data.

The new death, which occurred earlier this week, was that of a 70-year-old man, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

“Through contact tracing we continue to see a high number of cases and gatherings outside of the household,” city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

A significant portion of Thursday’s infections resulted from a single birthday party attended by members of three households, she said.

“The party resulted in 11 out of approximately 17 people testing positive,” she said. The person who introduced the virus to the party was believed to have acquired it at work.

In total, 3,255 cases of COVID-19 and 131 fatalities had been recorded in Pasadena.

Over the prior week, Pasadena’s saw an average of 32.6 new infections each day, records show.

Huntington Hospital reported treating 41 COVID-19 patients on Thursday. The facility suspended in-person visitation at the hospital for the second time during the pandemic on Wednesday.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Thursday that the virus was spreading at a “dangerous pace” as it announced 5,031 new cases of COVID-19 and 29 additional deaths on Friday.

The current spike in infections has exceeded the last major surge over the summer, officials said.

Since March, L.A. County has recorded 353,232 COVID-19 infections and 7,363 deaths.

“The County is experiencing a dangerous acceleration of cases that is increasing at a higher rate than the July surge,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement. “From June 20 through July 3, the seven-day average increase in new cases was 47%. From October 28 through November 10, the seven-day average increase in new cases is surging at 68%.”

More than 1,200 patents were being treated for the virus on Thursday, with 28% of them in intensive care units.

As cases, hospitalizations and deaths mounted, L.A. County Director of Public Health once again pleaded with the public to follow social distancing guidelines.

“Right now, the kindest thing we can do for our family, friends and neighbors is to protect each other from potentially becoming infected with COVID-19,” she said. “As cases are surging and hospitalizations are increasing, we need to stay home as much as possible, protect those who are elderly or have underlying health conditions, and stop gathering with people not in our households.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide “limited” stay-at-home order that was to be in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, starting on Saturday, according to the governor’s office. It will remain in effect through Dec. 21.

“This is the same as the March Stay at Home Order, but applied only between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and only in purple tier counties that are seeing the highest rates of positive cases and hospitalizations,” the governor’s office said in a written statement.

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge,” according to Newsom. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”

The order came as the California Department of Public Health announced 11,478 new infections detected on Thursday, pushing the state’s total infections to 1,059,267, according to California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Gahly.

The agency reported 106 new deaths, pushing the statewide total to 18,466

The state’s average positivity rate over the prior seven days had climbed to 5.6%, while the 14-day average was 5%, Gahly said.

As of Friday, Los Angeles County represented 33% of California’s COVID-19 cases and 40% of the state’s total COVID-19 deaths.