Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continue their steady decline in Long Beach and across the county as the death toll continues to rise.
As of Friday, 232 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus in Long Beach-area hospitals, down from 275 the day before and a recent high of 367 of Jan. 14, according to city data.
The city Monday also reported 623 new cases and four new coronavirus-related deaths.
At the county level, officials reported 4,360 new cases and 29 deaths. The new case figure is down significantly from recent weeks when the county was reporting record-setting numbers, sometimes upward of 45,000 in a single day.
“Despite the encouraging news of declining cases, test positivity and hospitalizations, sadly we continue to see a high number of people dying due to COVID-19,” county Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a statement Monday.
In the less than two years since the first reported coronavirus-related death in Long Beach on March 23, 2020, the virus has killed 1,158 people—one more than was murdered in the city from 1995 through 2021, according to FBI and Long Beach Police Department data.
Since Jan. 18, the city has reported 68 deaths, which is more than were reported in October, November and December combined, according to city data collected by the Post. The county averaged 70 deaths per day last week, Ferrer said.
“It remains clear that residents who are unvaccinated, immunocompromised, or living in low-resourced communities, face additional risk and are more likely to become seriously ill and die from COVID-19,” Ferrer said.
Hospitalizations countywide fell to 2,773 Monday, down from over 4,800 on Jan. 20.
Through the week ending Jan. 15, unvaccinated people were 12 times more likely to die from the coronavirus compared to those who have been inoculated, according to county health officials. Additionally, residents living in low-resourced communities were more than twice as likely to die from the virus compared to those living in affluent areas.
According to the county, vaccination status and poverty play a “substantial role in the likelihood of severe outcomes” after contracting COVID-19.
In Long Beach, over 72% of eligible residents aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 80.5% have received at least one dose. The city does not display the number of residents who have received the booster shot.
The city’s seven-day positivity rate and daily cases per 100,000 residents also continue to inch downward, now at 16.9% and 105.5, respectively. The county’s positivity rate as of Monday is 5%, the same as on Sunday, officials announced.