For the second day in a row, Long Beach reported a new high in the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19—something officials have said is a key indicator for how the fight against coronavirus is going.

A total of 66 people were in the hospital getting treatment for COVID-19, city officials said Sunday in their regular daily report on local coronavirus statistics. That was up from 61 people in the hospital on Saturday, which was the highest number Long Beach had reported until Sunday surpassed it.

Long Beach has averaged just under 50 hospitalizations on any given day over the last 30 days.

No new coronavirus deaths have been reported since Thursday, leaving the cumulative total at 51 as the city reopens beaches and has begun to allow pickup at retailers.

But Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia has pointed to the number of hospitalizations as an important guide for how and when to ease the local stay-at-home order.

“Our timeline will be guided by what our hospitalization rate is,” Garcia said last Wednesday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has also pointed to that statistic as a key indicator in easing statewide rules.

So far, a total of 1,298 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus in Long Beach, an increase of 27 cases compared to yesterday. About 830 people have recovered.

Countywide, officials reported 29 new deaths linked to COVID-19 and 694 new cases, bringing the number of deaths to 1,821 and positive cases to 37,974.

Hospitalizations in LA County have remained relatively flat in recent days at 1,648, officials reported. That’s down from 1,733 reported Friday.

County health officials said of the positive cases, 5,816 people have been hospitalized at some point during their illness.