Long Beach officials Thursday announced 15 more COVID-19 deaths after officials reported 27 deaths on Wednesday from the prior three days. To date, the city has logged 577 coronavirus related deaths, with 182—nearly 32%—coming in just the month of January.
While deaths continue to soar, hospitalizations continue to fall, now at 496, the lowest since the end of December. Daily new cases also fell to a level not seen since late December to 472.
The seven-day positivity rate decreased for the fifth day in a row to 13.5% and the daily cases per 100,000 residents decreased for the third day in a row to 113.6, the lowest point since mid-December.
Two public-facing Long Beach Fire Department employees tested positive for coronavirus—one from Station 1 and one from Station 13. Both employees last worked Jan. 13 and are recovering at home, according to the city.
The city’s vaccine rollout continued Thursday, with a line of cars in the elephant lot near the Long Beach Convention Center. But after launching only a few days ago, the city’s vaccination website, VaxLB, will be down from 10 p.m. Thursday to 7:30 a.m. Friday for “scheduled maintenance.” The website outlines all things vaccine, including who can schedule a vaccination appointment.
Los Angeles County officials Thursday reported 262 new deaths for a total of 14,641 and 7,263 hospitalizations, down 7% from one week ago. Of those hospitalized, 23% are in the ICU.
“Unfortunately, these numbers are still really high and they will continue to drive overcrowding in hospitals and more deaths,” county public health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday. “This is still far more than the hospital system can manage in the long term.”
After steadily declining over the last week, new infections across the country jumped to 8,511 Thursday, after the county reported less than 6,500 Wednesday. But new cases is still down compared earlier this month, when daily numbers reached more than 15,000.
Health officials are still watching for another spike following Christmas and New Year’s Eve gatherings but recent declines in certain metrics is promising.