COVID-19 transmission continues slowly trending upward in Pasadena on Thursday, with 16 new infections documented by public health officials. City officials reported 12 new COVID-19 infections in Pasadena on Friday as new cases county wide reached their highest level since March. No new deaths were reported in Pasadena.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Pasadena Public Health Department has documented 11,425 cases of the virus and 350 fatalities. The city saw an average of 7.6 daily infections over the prior week, records show.
At the regional level, authorities noted a doubling of new COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County since last week with 1,107 infections detected, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Dept.
It was the first time more than 1,000 cases were reported in the county since March 11, records show. Five fatalities were added to the county death toll, officials said. In all, L.A. County has recorded 1,255,434 cases of COVID-19 and 24,530 deaths.
Hospitalizations county-wide increased by 14% since last Friday, with 320 patients being treated at facilities as of Friday, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said in a written statement. The county’s daily test positivity rate was measured at 2.4%, up from 1.5% a week prior, officials said.
Just under 4 million residents are unvaccinated against COVID-19.
California public health officials reported 2,411 new infections and 59 deaths on Friday, raising the state’s totals to 3,724,833 cases of COVID-19 and 63,376 fatalities.
The statewide average positivity rate over the prior week continued a gradual climb to 2.3%, according to California Department of Public Health data.
As of Friday, L.A. County represented 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 39% of the state’s deaths.
Authorities added that they were closely monitoring the multiple COVID-19 variants circulating in the Southland, particularly, the especially contagious and potent Delta variant. The Delta variant has been the most commonly sequenced variant in L.A. County since the beginning of June, now accounting for the majority of variants of concern identified by labst. From June 20 and June 26, the number of sequenced Delta variants was 63, 54% of all sequences collected that week.
Authorities estimated half of the COVID-19 infections across the nation now involve the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, Pfizer announced Thursday that it planned to seek federal approval to for the distribution of third vaccine doses, saying it would improve immunity and could possibly improve defense against the Delta variant, the Associated Press reported.
Just over 2,800 so-called breakthrough infections have been reported in L.A. County, in which people who were fully vaccinated contracted COVID-19, authorities reported. “A total of 195 people, 0.004% of those fully vaccinated, were hospitalized for infections contracted while fully vaccinated. And 21 people died of their infections, 0.0004%. These numbers are very similar to the numbers seen last week.”
County officials listed 296 COVID-19 patients hospitalized county-wide on Thursday, with 24% of them being treated in intensive care units.
The trend makes vaccination all the more critical, L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said.
At the state level, public health officials announced 1,416 new infections and 58 deaths on Thursday, bringing the state totals to 3,722,422 cases of the virus and 63,317 fatalities. The average statewide positivity rate over the prior week increased to 2.1%, up from 1.9% on Wednesday, according to California Department of Public Health data. As of Thursday, L.A. County accounted for 34% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 39% of the state’s deaths.
Los Angeles County is recommending (not requiring) that everyone, including vaccinated persons, wear masks indoors at all times. The Delta Variant has begun spreading here and wearing masks inside can help slow the spread to unvaccinated person. Those who are vaccinated can still contract coronavirus, but it is unlikely you would show symptoms or become severely ill. The LAC DPH Mask Guidance has been updated to include the recommendation that fully vaccinated persons wear a mask in indoor public settings and businesses as an extra precaution. The information in Spanish is pending. Please visit our COVID-19 Mask website at [ph.lacounty.gov/masks]ph.lacounty.gov/masks for more extensive information.
LA County has published the following downloadable signage:
- Indoors - Masks required for everyone English
- Indoors - Masks required for people who are not fully vaccinated English
LA County's Best Practices for Businesses guidance was updated June 25, 2021 and includes important information:
- Prevent and reduce transmission from and among customers/visitors
- Prevent and reduce transmission among employees
- Maintain a healthy work environment
- Maintain healthy business operations
- Signage.
Grant Opportunity for Black-owned Businesses: The NAACP and Bacardi have launched Round 2 of the Backing the B.A.R. Acceleration Grant, a program offering $10,000 grants, education, and support to Black-owned businesses in the hospitality and alcohol sales industries. Applications are open until July 30. Apply for grant
Masks in Schools: From the LA Times: The new school year in California will start with students and teachers wearing masks, state officials announced Friday, staking out a cautious position on a day when new federal guidelines stressed the importance of fully reopening schools and recommended masks only for those who are not vaccinated.
As part of a multilayered approach to limit the spread of COVID-19, those who are not vaccinated should wear masks indoors — and schools, health departments or states may continue to require masks on campus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
California has opted for a safety standard that is likely to be more cautious than in many other states.
The CDC guidelines also emphasized the importance of offering in-person learning to all after pandemic-forced school closures and online learning kept many children from campus, resulting in learning losses and mental health problems during months of isolation.
As an example to guide decision making, the CDC describes a situation in which not all students are vaccinated and physical distancing of three feet between desks is difficult to achieve. They advise that a school “should not exclude students from in-person learning to keep a minimum distance requirement,” the guidelines state.
When it comes to masks, the new federal guidelines also list situations in which authorities may appropriately maintain universal masking requirements — and some examples apply to California. They include a recent increase in the COVID-19 transmission rate, occurring in L.A. County and elsewhere. Overall infection rates remain far below what they were at the height of the winter surge.
The Economy: The Los Angeles County office rental market is showing early signs of stabilizing as businesses shed space at a slower pace in an apparent calculation that better times are ahead.
Facing a shaky economy during the worst months of the pandemic, many companies pulled back on their office rentals by taking less space when their leases came up for renewal or attempting to sublease space they weren’t using. Office leasing in Los Angeles County fell to its lowest point since the Great Recession in the April-June quarter last year.
Vacancy rose again in the second quarter of 2021 from the year-earlier period, yet at a reduced pace as the number of leases being signed picked up while the economy began to rally, real estate brokers said.
About 28% of workers in the Los Angeles area came to their offices last week, according to Kastle Systems, which provides key-card entry systems used by many companies and tracks patterns of workers’ card swipes. That was up slightly from the previous week, but below the national average of about 32.7%.