By Jorge Casuso

June 8, 2021 -- As California prepares to reopen in one week, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Santa Monica have reached the lowest levels since a health emergency was declared in March of last year, according to data from County Health.

The number of confirmed cases in the city of some 93,000 has leveled off to an average of 11 weekly cases over the past month, with 8 cases confirmed last week.

There were 8 cases in Santa Monica during three of the past four weeks, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the city to 4,842.

The last coronavirus-related death in Santa Monica was reported in the week ending May 2, according to County Health data.

The local numbers reflect a drop in cases and deaths across the County of more than 10 million, which has had a total of 1,245,253 positive cases and 24,392 virus-related deaths.

There were 254 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in LA County on Sunday, health officials said. Testing results were available for nearly 6,830,000 residents with 17 percent testing positive.

"While case numbers and other metrics continue to remain low and stable, there is still potential for transmission of COVID-19 at worksites among unvaccinated workers," County Public Health officials said.

Last Thursday, the Cal/OSHA standards board recommended relaxing physical distancing and masking requirements for fully vaccinated workers as the State reopens.

Under the revised standards, fully vaccinated workers "do not need to wear face coverings in a room where everyone else is fully vaccinated," Health officials said.

"In rooms where everyone is not vaccinated, face coverings continue to be required for everyone regardless of vaccination status."

Workers don't need to wear face coverings outdoors "except when working at 'outdoor mega events' with over 10,000 attendees, which may include events or theme parks," officials said.

Employers can eliminate physical distancing and partitions if they "provide respirators, such as N95s, to unvaccinated employees for voluntary use," health officials said.

Fully vaccinated workers who don't have virus symptoms can be allowed to continue going to work "after a close contact," officials said.

As of Friday, 5,400,962 LA County residents over the age of 16, or 64.9 percent, had received at least one does of the vaccine. Of those, 4,508,042 were fully vaccinated.

In Santa Monica, 61,572 of residents over 16, or 75.5 percent, had received at least one dose.

Countywide, Asians had the highest percentage of residents vaccinated with 72.6 percent of those over 16 having received at least one dose, followed by whites with 63.2 percent and Latinos with 50.2 percent vaccinated.

Only 42 percent of Black residents over 16 had received at least one vaccination.