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Most of Long Beach’s coronavirus metrics, including case count and hospitalizations, declined this week, though city health officials said people should still take the virus seriously and get the updated boosters — which will be available to most residents next week.

“Although our case rates are lower, COVID-19 is still in our community and we need to remain vigilant,” City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis said in a Friday, Oct. 14 statement. “The Health Department continues to encourage everyone who is eligible to receive an updated booster while also continuing to follow common sense prevention measures.”

The recently updated vaccines, otherwise known as bivalent boosters, specifically protect against the omicron coronavirus variant and its subvariants, including BA.4 and BA.5 — which make up the majority of Long Beach’s cases, Davis said previously. Long Beach announced on Friday evening that it will provide the bivalent boosters to everyone who is at least 5 years old beginning Wednesday, Oct. 19.

Long Beach reported 248 new coronavirus cases this week, as of Thursday, Oct. 13, down slightly from 362 the week before. The total number of cases since the pandemic began, according to city data, was 152,052 as of Thursday.

The data is through Thursday, but the city posted the latest information to its COVID-19 dashboard on Friday.

The city’s daily case rate was 4.7 per 100,000 people this week, down from 5.9 the week before, the data shows. The seven-day case rate, meanwhile, sat at 66.7 per 100,000.

The positivity rate was 5%, as of Thursday.

The number of Long Beach residents who were hospitalized and had tested positive for COVID-19 dropped to 12 as of Thursday, according to city data, down from 16 reported last week.

The number of Long Beach-area hospitals with COVID-19-positive patients has remained at 38 for more than two months. But, according to health department spokeswoman Jennifer Rice Epstein, that number hasn’t been updated properly because of technical difficulties.

The seven-day rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions slightly decreased, though, from 3.6 per 100,000 people last week to 2.1 this week. The proportion of in-patient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in Long Beach-area hospitals was 2.8%, according to city data, a slight drop from the week prior.

“Our COVID-19 community level remains in the low level,” Davis said. “Our case rate, new hospital admissions and percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients all have decreased in the past week.”

The city also reported no new COVID-19-related deaths in Long Beach this week. The citywide death toll since the pandemic began was 1,333, as of Thursday.

Aside from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, Davis also encouraged residents to take precautionary measures to further prevent coronavirus spread, including wearing a mask for 10 days if exposed to or infected with the virus and staying home when sick.

“In order to optimize your health for the winter season,” Davis said, “please get a flu shot as well.”

Coronavirus vaccine rates in Long Beach have remained largely flat for months — with some age groups taking weeks to budge several basis points.

Children aged 5-to-11 remain among the least vaccinated, with 28.8% fully inoculated, while those 65 and older are the most vaccinated, with a 99% inoculation rate.

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