Nearly three years after the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, COVID-19 emergency orders in Pasadena are set to end this month.
The Pasadena Public Health Department announced it will terminate its COVID-19 local public health emergency effective Sunday, March 5, at 11:59 p.m.
On Monday, March 6, the Pasadena City Council will also vote on terminating the public health declaration, as well as terminating the city manager proclamation of a local emergency related to COVID-19, effective March 31.
The city will use that time to examine the potential impacts on city programs and services and will present their findings and recommendations at the March 27 council meeting, according to the city staff report.
The move follows Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision this week to rescind the statewide emergency declaration effective Feb. 28. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted this week to end their local emergency and local health emergency proclamations this week, effective March 31.
Over the last seven weeks L.A. County has ranked “low” in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 community level metrics.
“With the end of the emergency proclamations, the Pasadena community will enter a new phase in the pandemic, but the threat posed to community health by COVID-19 will continue,” Interim Health Office Dr. Handler said in a release.
“Terminating the local public health emergency will shift intervention measures from PPHD to individuals and their healthcare providers. PPHD will maintain a full complement of staff who will continue to conduct contact tracing and case investigations, offer vaccines and boosters, and provide safety information and guidance to the community.”
Pasadena has investigated 42,281 reported, confirmed and probable cases; administered 42,628 vaccines and distributed 32,090 COVID-19 tests since the start of the pandemic, according to a city press release.
The Pasadena Public Health Department…
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