Los Angeles County Public Health on Friday confirmed 53 new deaths and 3,116 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, as Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 21st COVID-related fatality.

Public Health has confirmed 4,650 cases to date in the Santa Clarita Valley, including 2,376 cases in the city of Santa Clarita.

Public Health anticipates a continued reporting of a backlog of cases as the state electronic laboratory system (ELR) reporting delay is addressed. Data sources that track other key indicators, including hospitalizations and deaths, are not affected by this reporting issue.

Countywide, 1,680 people are now hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, 30% of them in the ICU.

The county is now seeing a downward trend in the number of daily hospitalizations. Last week, Public Health reported more than 2,000 daily hospitalizations.

Test results are available for more than 1,893,000 county residents, with 10% of all people testing positive.

Since the pandemic began, Public Health has identified 204,167 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of the county, and a total of 4,918 deaths. There have been 49 COVID-19 deaths in the SCV, including 37 in the city.

“So many families are experiencing the pain and sadness of losing a loved one to COVID-19. We extend our deepest sympathies to all of you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

California Snapshot
Statewide, as of Thursday, August 6, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 538,416 cases (up 8,436), with 10,011 deaths from the disease (up 142). There are 5,932 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,798 ICU hospitalizations in California.

As of August 6, local health departments have reported 25,679 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 131 deaths statewide.

Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

Due to issues with the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system, these data represent an underreporting of actual positive cases in one single day.

COVID Around the World
Worldwide, more than 19.2 million people have been infected by COVID-19 while 716,735 have died as of 1:35 Friday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 4,918,927 million 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 160,737.

The United States has the highest case and death rate in the world. Brazil, at #2, had confirmed 2.9 million cases and 98,493 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
As of Friday, 49 SCV residents have died of the virus since the pandemic began. Of the dead, 37 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, 1 in unincorporated Valencia, and 1 in a community not yet named. The L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 data dashboard, last updated Wednesday at 8 p.m., does not yet list the 49th SCV death.

Of the 4,650 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 2,376

Castaic: 1,867 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 123

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 88

Acton: 51

Val Verde: 47

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 37

Agua Dulce: 20

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 20

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 6

Elizabeth Lake: 6

Sand Canyon: 5

Bouquet Canyon: 2

Lake Hughes: 1

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 deaths on Friday, August 7, according to Patrick Moody, hospital spokesman. Due to privacy constraints, the hospital does not disclose patients’ cities of residence.

The hospital is now releasing statistics on a weekly basis (Wednesdays) unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a COVID-related death has been confirmed.

As of Friday, of the 5,697 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 700 tested positive, 6,356 were negative, 106 were pending, 9 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (down 4 from August 1), and a total of 206 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far, as fatalities at the hospital now number 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,” he said.

More L.A. County Demographics
Of the 53 new deaths reported Friday, 21 people that passed away (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) were over the age of 80 years old, 18 people were between 65 and 79 years old, 11 people were between 50 and 64 years old, and three people were between 30 and 49 years old.

Thirty-nine people had underlying health conditions including 17 people over 80 years old, 13 people between 65 and 79 years old, seven people between 50 and 64 years old, and two people between 30 and 49 years old.

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

Upon further investigation, 55 cases and four deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 4,610 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 49% 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.

L.A. County ‘Guided by Science’
“We remain guided by science and data that can be used appropriately to move us forward along the road to recovery in a measured way. The lower number of daily hospitalizations we are seeing is an indicator that we are making some progress,” L.A. County Public Health’s Barbara Ferrer said.

“However, we need to see lower rates and our future success depends on commitments we each make every day about doing our part, working together and sustaining efforts that get us to the other side of this pandemic,” she said.

“Our collective goals of slowing the spread of this virus and reopening and keeping open vital community and economic sectors means we must put off the parties, gatherings, and trips to crowded places in order to get to low community transmission rates so we can re-open our schools and get more people back to work,” she said.

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.

Here’s the L.A. County incident report for Friday, August 7, 2020:

[Open .pdf in new window]

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County Monitoring Data
A total of California 38 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.

See the complete list of counties here.

California Testing
There have been 8,596,882 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 96,419 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 4, there have been 29 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide.

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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