The prevalence of COVID-19 in Long Beach appears to be declining after a summer spike that health officials blame on the delta variant and a lag in vaccinations.

Two health metrics—the number of cases per 100,000 residents, and the percentage of people testing positive for the virus—are both continuing to edge downward.

As of Monday, the city’s positivity rate was 1.9%, down from 8.5% in early August. Its case rate per 100,000 residents is now 21.7, down from nearly 37 in August.

The city has, however, recorded another seven deaths since Friday. A total of 1,007 people have died of COVID-19 since March 2020, making it the No. 1 cause of death.

Positive tests in Long Beach Unified schools has also remained low in the first full three weeks of testing.

The district conducted a total of 23,963 tests last week, with 137 coming back positive. That is a positivity rate of just 0.57%.

The district is not testing students this week, but taking a one-week pause before deciding on a plan for the remainder of the semester.

In the first three weeks, 531 students have tested positive, and 34 employees.

The district’s policy for the first three weeks of school was to test all unvaccinated students once per week. With roughly 26,000 students having received one or more dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, that’s a 55.9% vaccination rate among eligible students.

Staff writer Mike Guardabascio contributed to this report.