The number of new coronavirus cases in Long Beach continues to decline, with the city reporting 415 new cases over two days, and three additional deaths.

The city’s positivity rate among those who are tested decreased to 10.3%, compared to a rate of nearly 18% just three weeks ago. The city is reporting just over 61 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to nearly 160 on Jan. 15.

Residents who are hospitalized in the five facilities that serve Long Beach declined to 342, down from a high of 581 in mid-January.

The city reported three deaths Monday, one of which was associated with a long-term care facility.

Los Angeles County, too, said the number of new cases has dropped by 67% since the beginning of January, but still remains about five times higher than the numbers the county reached last September, before the winter surge. Average daily hospitalizations are down about 30% since the beginning of the month.

Ferrer said daily deaths are down about 33% from early January, but she called that a small decline compared to the 1400% surge in daily deaths in December into January.

“This is a tragedy that we’ve yet to turn around,” she said.

The county on Monday reported another 85 deaths and 4,223 new cases, for a total from throughout the pandemic to 1,121,107.

Case and death reports are typically low on Mondays due to lags in reporting from the weekend.

According to state figures, there were 5,259 people hospitalized in the county as of Monday, including 1,415 in intensive care. The overall number is well below the daily average of more than 8,000 patients in early January.

Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of county Health Services, said emergency hospitals in the county reported a total of 816 available beds Monday morning, including 87 ICU beds.

But while the numbers are trending in the right direction, health officials urged residents to continue adhering to infection-control measures, particularly with more businesses reopened, such as outdoor restaurants.

“`It is not time to relax. It is … time to remain super-vigilant against this deadly virus and continue to stay home as much as possible,” Ferrer said. “It is only by the actions that each business and each individual in L.A. County takes that we’re going to see this continued reduction in transmission.”

City News Service contributed to this report.