Long Beach moved into the high-community transmission tier late last month, health officials announced on Friday, Aug. 12, a day after Los Angeles County moved back down to the medium category — even though many of the city’s coronavirus metrics have decreased since the end of July.
Long Beach entered high transmission around July 28 and 29, but a lag in the data delayed that revelation, city health officials said. Since then, the metrics that determine transmission tiers have declined enough to drop the city out of the high category.
The city reported 1,147 new coronavirus cases over the last week, a decrease from the week prior.
Over the past two weeks, Long Beach has reported 2,305 new cases combined, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 146,851, according to city data. That data is through Thursday, but the Department of Health and Human Services updated it on Friday.
The city’s average daily case rate, the data shows, also decreased. That metric hit 19.5 per 100,000 people this week, down from 23.5 last week. Long Beach’s test positivity rate also went down as of Thursday, totaling 14.1%.
Along with a dip in new reported infections this week, Long Beach’s average seven-day case rate — which has well exceeded the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 200 per 100,000 resident threshold for several weeks — is also on the decline.
The city’s average weekly COVID-19 cases totaled 277.4 per 100,000, down from the 393.1 reported last week.
“We’re cautiously optimistic about our improving case rates and hospitalizations,” said City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis. “We continue to monitor the situation.”
The CDC uses two other metrics, aside from the average weekly case rate, to determine a city’s community transmission level: New COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people over the past seven days, and the percent of staffed inpatient hospital beds occupied by COVID-19-positive patients.
Because average weekly cases are above 200 per 100,000 people, Long Beach’s threshold for high transmission is a weekly average of 10 COVID-19-positive hospital patients per 100,000 residents.
Average weekly hospitalizations is used by health officials to determine a surge’s real-world impact, particularly on the health care system — increased this week, though officials said it’s on a downward trend.
Long Beach’s average weekly hospitalization hit 10.5 per 100,000 on July 28 before dropping to an even 10 the next day, city health officials said.
But last week, that rate plummeted to 4.7, according to health department spokeswoman Jennifer Rice Epstein.
Average weekly hospitalizations climbs again this week, though at 7.5 per 100,000 residents, the metric still remains below the threshold for high transmission.
Long Beach temporarily moved into the high-tier the same week Los Angeles County decided not to reintroduce an indoor mask mandate, saying the Department of Public Health’s internal data showed the metrics would soon bring the county back to the medium tier.
At the same time, Long Beach also said it would not implement a mandate because the city’s metrics showed a different situation from the county’s.
“Although it looks like our hospitalization rate went up, it’s actually trending down,” Rice Epstein said in a Friday email. “Numbers can fluctuate because of reporting lags.”
As of Thursday, meanwhile, 6.5% of Long Beach’s hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19-positive patients — which also falls below the CDC’s 10% threshold for high transmission. That number fell from 7% reported last week.
The total number of Long Beach residents in hospitals with COVID-19 totaled 32 this week — down from 34 reported as of July 28. The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Long Beach area hospitals, however, has remained at 38 for more than two months.
The city also reported two new coronavirus-related deaths this week — down from four the week prior. The six Long Beach residents who have died from the virus in the past two weeks combined brought the citywide total since the pandemic began to 1,310.
Despite the improving metrics, Long Beach health officials have repeatedly urged residents to practice COVID-19 mitigation measures to prevent surges.
We “remind our community to remain vigilant,” Davis said, “and continue to follow common sense prevention measures.”
Last week, Long Beach began offering a new COVID-19 vaccine for those who have yet to be immunized. Novavax, a protein-based vaccination, uses more traditional technology than the other COVID-19 vaccines — though it’s still administered in a two-dose series. It’s currently available at city-run vaccine clinics.
Vaccinations citywide, however, have remained stagnant for weeks — with each age group’s numbers only marginally increasing.
About 70% of all residents had been fully vaccinated, with about 77% having received at least one dose, according to Thursday’s data. Another 37% had received a booster shot.
And 81% of all Long Beach adults were fully vaccinated, as of Thursday, with 46% having had a booster.
Among those 5-to-11 years old, 26% were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, with 3.7% having received a third dose. Vaccination data on those under 5 years old was not yet available.
About 76% in the 12-to-17 age range were fully vaccinated as of Thursday. Of that age group, a little more than 22% had received a booster.
Those in the 18-to-34 range remain the least vaccinated adult age group in Long Beach, as of Thursday’s data. About 76% of those residents had received at least one dose, with about 67% fully vaccinated and about 30% boosted.
Long Beach’s senior population, meanwhile, remains the most highly protected group in the city — 99% of adults aged 65 and up are fully vaccinated and nearly 79% had received a first booster as of Thursday.
