Los Angeles County Public Health on Friday confirmed 45 new deaths and 2,642 new cases of COVID-19 countywide.

To date, Public Health officials have identified 218,693 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 across all areas of the county and a total of 5,214 deaths, including 4,929 confirmed COVID cases and 51 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the thousands of people in L.A. County who tragically lost their life to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., MPH, MEd, director of Public Health.

On a more positive note, Public Health reports there has been a 25% reduction in the number of daily hospitalized patients in just two weeks. There are 1,415 confirmed cases hospitalized in L.A. County, and 33% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU.

As of Friday, the 7-day average of daily hospitalizations was 1,521 patients. Two weeks ago, on July 31, daily hospitalizations averaged 2,026 patients.

“The lower number of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations is encouraging, however, we still have far too many people spreading this virus,” Ferrer said. “Every day, a team of public health specialists investigates clusters of cases associated with parties, dinner events, and gatherings. None of these activities are essential and all can lead to a growing number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

“We save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19 when we commit to doing what we know works — avoid gathering with people that you don’t live with, wear a face covering, maintain physical distance, and wash hands often,” Ferrer said. “Only when we get to low community transmission rates, can we re-open our schools and get more people back to work. The choice is ours to make – our recovery journey continues only if we all do our part today to slow the spread.”

Test results are available for more than 2,037,000 county residents, with 10% of all people testing positive.

The number of new cases reported Friday is not known to include many backlog numbers from the state’s electronic lab report system if any. The number does, however, include delayed reporting of a few hundred cases from Thursday. A backlog of cases from the state is still expected. Data sources that track other key indicators, including hospitalizations and deaths, are not affected by this reporting issue.

California Friday Snapshot
Statewide, as of Thursday, August 13, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 601,075 COVID-19 cases (up 7,934 – 3,505 reported for 8/13 plus 4,429 backlogged cases), with 10,996 deaths from the disease (up 188). There are 5,189 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,684 ICU hospitalizations in California, continuing a slight downward trend.

The 7-day positivity rate is 6.5% and the 14-day positivity rate is 6.2%.

As of August 13, local health departments have reported 27,919 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 143 deaths statewide.

In the past few days, working in partnership with the California Department of Technology, CDPH cleared the data backlog reported last week and has continued processing new case records. Since Friday, CDPH has processed the roughly 300,000 backlogged CalREDIE records, including both negative and positive results.

The issue with the state’s electronic laboratory system that generated the backlog has been addressed and CDPH continues to closely monitor the performance of the system.

CDPH, along with the local public health departments, is processing the backlogged records and attributing cases to the correct reporting dates. As a result, the case counts reported Friday, and in the next few days, will include cases that would have been reported in earlier days and weeks – and are not an accurate representation of cases reported in the prior 24 hours.

COVID Around the World: USA Still No. 1
Worldwide, 21,036,943 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 761,926 have died as of 2:27 Friday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 5,297,876 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while the number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 168,181.

The United States has the highest case and death rate in the world. Brazil, at #2, had confirmed 3.2 million cases and 105,463 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
The L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 data dashboard as of the latest update at 8 p.m. Wednesday confirms 51 SCV residents have died of the virus since the pandemic began. Of the dead, 40 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 4 in Castaic, 2 in Acton, 2 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 4,929 cases reported to Public Health among SCV residents to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 2,602

Castaic: 1,876 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 135

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 101

Acton: 55

Val Verde: 53

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 39

Agua Dulce: 22

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 21

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 6

Elizabeth Lake: 6

Sand Canyon: 5

Bouquet Canyon: 5

Lake Hughes: 2

Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

*Note: The county is unable to break out separate numbers for Castaic and PDC/NCCF because the county uses geotagging software that cannot be changed at this time, according to officials. Click here for the LASD COVID-19 dashboard.

Henry Mayo Friday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 21st COVID-related death on Friday, August 7, according to Patrick Moody, hospital spokesman. Due to privacy constraints, the hospital does not disclose patients’ cities of residence.

Henry Mayo now releases statistics weekly, on Wednesdays, unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a COVID-related death has been confirmed.

As of Wednesday, August 12, of the 5,893 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 719 tested positive, 6,654 were negative, 29 were pending, 9 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, and a total of 217 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far, as fatalities at the hospital stand at 21, Moody confirmed.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested multiple times. “Often a single patient is tested more than once,” Moody said.

More L.A. County Demographics
Of the 45 new deaths reported Friday, 21 people who died (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) were over the age of 80 years old, 12 people were between 65 and 79 years old, nine people were between 50 and 64 years old, and two people were between 30 and 49 years old.

Thirty-three people had underlying health conditions including 19 people over 80 years old, nine people between 65 and 79 years old and five people between 50 and 64 years old. One death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Countywide, 92% of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Upon further investigation, 88 cases and two deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 4,904 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health): 50% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 24% among White residents, 15% among Asian residents, 10% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Business Owners-Operators’ Responsibilities
Business owners and business operators also need to take the necessary steps that protect workers and customers and adherence to infection control and distancing directives.

In addition to following infection control directives, businesses need to immediately alert Public Health when there are three or more cases at a worksite.

Directives and checklists for all businesses to follow are posted at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/.

Reports of non-compliance and dangerous conditions at businesses can be reported by phone at 888-700-9995 or online. These tips can be submitted anonymously.

County Contact Tracing
The state ELR problems have resulted in undercounting, affecting the number of COVID-19 cases reported each day and L.A. County’s contact tracing efforts.

Given the ELR delays, the department urges any person with a positive lab result to call 1-833-540-0473 to connect with a public health specialist who can provide information about services and support. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue to call 211 for resources or more information.

L.A. County Public Health’s Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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California County Monitoring Data
A total of 38 California counties including Los Angeles and Ventura are required to close indoor operations for certain sectors based on the July 13 order to slow community transmission.

Counties on the County Monitoring List for three or more consecutive days must close indoor operations for additional activities.

See the complete list of counties here.

California Testing
There have been 9,556,598 tests conducted in California, an increase of 111,105 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

More than 85 community testing sites offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

The CDPH released updated testing guidance on July 23 that focuses on testing hospitalized individuals with signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and people being tested as part of the investigation and management of outbreaks, including contact tracing.

The testing guidance also prioritizes individuals who have COVID-19 symptoms and individuals without symptoms who fall into high-risk categories, including people who live and work in nursing homes, homeless shelters and prisons, healthcare workers, and patients in hospitals.

The new guidance will ensure that Californians who most need tests get them even if there are limited supplies.

California Demographics
Overall, for adults 18 and older, Latinos, African Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are dying at disproportionately higher levels.

The proportion of COVID-19 deaths in African Americans is more than one-and-a-half times their population representation across all adult age categories. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but almost double between the proportion of COVID-19 deaths and their population representation.

More males are dying from COVID-19 than females, in line with national trends.

More information is available at COVID-19 Race and Ethnicity Data.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)
Each week, the California Department of Public Health updates the number of cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported in the state.

As of August 11, there have been 36 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, an increase of 7 over the previous week.

To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, we are not providing total counts at this time.

MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life-threatening.

Parents should be aware of the signs and symptoms of MIS-C including fever that does not go away, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes or feeling tired.

Contact your child’s doctor immediately if your child has these symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment of patients are critical to preventing long-term complications.

Protect Yourself and Your Family
Every person has a role to play. Protecting yourself and your family comes down to common sense:

* Staying home except for essential needs/activities following local and state public health guidelines when patronizing approved businesses. To the extent that sectors are re-opened, Californians may leave their homes to work at, patronize, or otherwise engage with those businesses, establishments or activities.

* Practicing social distancing

* Wearing a cloth face mask when out in public

* Washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds

* Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands

* Covering a cough or sneeze with your sleeve, or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward

* Avoiding close contact with people who are sick

* Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough

* Following guidance from public health officials

What to Do if You Think You’re Sick
Call ahead: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath), call your health care provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken. More than 85 community testing sites also offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, to find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

California COVID-19 Data and Tools
A wide range of data and analysis guides California’s response to COVID-19. The state is making the data and its analytical tools available to researchers, scientists and the public at covid19.ca.gov.

* The Statewide COVID-19 Dashboard

* The California COVID-19 Assessment Tool (CalCAT)

* State Cases and Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Age Group

* COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data

* COVID-19 Hospital Data and Case Statistics

* View additional datasets at the California Open Data Portal (including Testing Data, PPE Logistics Data, Hospital Data, Homeless Impact and more)

Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.

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Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus (COVID-19):

* Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

* California Department of Public Health

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

* Spanish

* World Health Organization

* Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard

L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1.

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