Local Officials ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About Decrease in COVID-19 

A city official told Pasadena Now that there is reason to be optimistic about the declining pandemic case rate, but now is not the time to let up on taking precautions against acquiring COVID-19.

“We need to be cautiously optimistic not knowing what this new variant can produce,” said Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian. “We are vaccinating a new tier this week and have been very successful in getting in harder to reach populations in partnership with Huntington Hospital.”

Los Angeles County has reported 16 additional cases of the coronavirus-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, bringing the total cases of MIS-C in L.A. County to 116 children, including one child death.

Local health officials also reported 1,823 new cases of COVID-19 and 98 additional deaths on Saturday.

According to City News Service, the number of coronavirus patients in L.A. County hospitals continued to fall, dropping to 1,176. That’s a huge drop from the peak of the winter surge in early January when the number was more than 8,000.

“This is a natural trend with respiratory viruses — to spike and then subside very quickly. It was seen with the H1N1 pandemic in 1918. That said, I think masking, socially distancing and closing of businesses and social gathering places during the surge were factors in the decline,” said Dr. Kimberly Shriner, an infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital.

According to Shriner, temperature shifts can contribute as well.  Coronaviruses, she said, do better in the cold and dark, so with spring and longer days, they are not as robust.

“There may be other viral factors that we just don’t understand or even know about at this time, but I think these are the main reasons,” she said.

Meanwhile, in what county officials hope is the beginning of the end of severe COVID-19 vaccine shortages, the county next week will receive its largest vaccine allotment to date, with nearly two-thirds of the supply being used to administer first doses.

The city has started vaccinating workers in restaurants and grocery stores.

If the city moves out of the restrictive purple tier, restaurants could open limited indoor dining. 

“We hope when businesses open more our positive cases will lower,” Derderian said. “Hundreds of restaurant and grocery workers were vaccinated this week and will continue. Teachers and daycare workers are also in this phase to prepare for school reopening. We should be receiving the J&J vaccine in the next few weeks so we’re very optimistic that’ll enable us to vaccinate more community and business representatives.”