By Jorge Casuso

March 14, 2022 -- There were seven coronavirus-related deaths confirmed in Santa Monica over the past two weeks, bringing to 28 the number of deaths recorded in two months.

The city has reported an average of 3.5 deaths per week over that period, making it the deadliest stretch since 18 virus-related deaths were reported during a 12-day period in late March and early April last year, according to County health data.

Deaths are typically reported about two weeks after they have taken place, health officials said.

The deaths come as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to drop in Santa Monica and across Los Angeles County.

There were 178 coronavirus cases reported in Santa Monica over the past two weeks, after cases briefly rose to 188 three weeks ago, marking the first increase since a record 1,902 weekly cases were reported early January.

Cases also dropped Countywide last week to 7,987, two months after setting a weekly record of 265,975 cases, according to County data.

Hospitalizations have also plummeted, with 491 people hospitalized with COVID on Monday, down from 731 a week earlier. That compares to more than 4,800 hospitalizations during the Omicron surge in early January.

Fewer than 100 of the patients hospitalized were occupying the County's 2,500 licensed ICU beds, according to the data.

Positive cases among healthcare workers have also nosedived -- from 1,205 positive cases during the week after Christmas to 80 last week.

"The declines reflect decreases in community transmission and have resulted in reduced stress across our health care system allowing health care providers to return to providing a full range of essential prevention and treatment services," said County Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

In Santa Monica, there have been a total of 16,641 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 226 virus-related deaths since a health emergency was declared on March 16, 2020.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,813,689 positive cases of COVID-19 across the County, which has a population of more than 10 million. A total of 31,315 LA County residents have died with the virus.

Testing results are available for more than 11,552,500 individuals, with 22 percent testing positive.