As Long Beach residents begin to venture outside with loosened restrictions during Memorial Day weekend, the number of people hospitalized remains relatively flat, at 62, according to the city’s data dashboard.

The number of people hospitalized from the virus is one metric officials are carefully monitoring when it comes to when and how they will ease restrictions.

The city on Saturday reported 40 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 1,553. Another person also died of the virus, bringing the city’s death toll to 71.

Officials announced on Friday that 3 Long Beach firefighters who work out of the department’s headquarters in East Long Beach tested positive for the virus. Two of them are recovering at home and one has already recovered. In addition, a public-facing Marine bureau employee tested positive and is recovering at home.

County health officials, meanwhile, reported another 1,032 cases of COVID-19 and 41 additional deaths Saturday, raising the county’s totals to 44,055 cases and 2,090 deaths.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with those families and friends mourning the loss of their loved ones,” Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, said in a statement.

Ferrer said the county’s data shows a steady decline in hospitalizations, deaths, and the percent of people testing positive. The percent of people tested who are positive in L.A. County is now at an all-time low of 8.5%; in comparison, New York City’s positivity rate is currently 28%.

The increases in total cases are due to an increase in those tested, “and this is a good thing,” Ferrer said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Where Long Beach stands in meeting the state’s criteria to reopen