On Friday, Los Angeles County Public Health officials confirmed 12 new deaths and 229 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 27,941 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the 12 new deaths reported today, five people that passed away were over the age of 80, three people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

“We wish healing and peace to everyone mourning the passing of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

To date, Public Health identified 1,243,522 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,333 deaths.

There are 289 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 18% of these people are in the ICU. This is the first time daily hospitalizations dropped below 300 and is the lowest number of daily hospitalizations since March 2020.

COVID-19 testing results are available for more than 6,740,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 0.4%. The County’s test positivity remains at the lowest levels of the pandemic.

Preparing for Safe Memorial Day 2021

The best way to prepare for a safe Memorial Day holiday and summer is to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

When everyone at a gathering is fully vaccinated, you can gather outdoors or inside without any masking or distancing requirements.

If guests from more than one household at your gathering are unvaccinated, they should wear masks and keep a distance from people in other households.

In these situations, gathering outdoors with at most 100 others is safest, and gathering indoors is strongly discouraged.

If gathering indoors, keep the numbers lower, at 50% of capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer.

For more details on how to reduce the risk of spread at your gathering, please review the Public Health Guidance for Informal Social Gatherings.

California Friday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Thursday, May 27, California Department of Public Health officials confirmed 3,682,099 COVID-19 cases (up 4,864) with 62,025 deaths from the disease (up 170) since the pandemic began. Note: Today’s case count includes 3,632 Los Angeles cases and 118 deaths from prior months that were not previously reported.

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

As of May 27, local health departments have reported 111,121 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 461 deaths statewide.

The 7-day positivity rate is 0.9%.

As of May 28, providers have reported administering a total of 37,100,162 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 45,683,640 doses have been delivered to entities within the state.

Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed.

See more California information later in this report.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Friday Update

As of Friday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital had zero cases pending and a total of 1,240 patients had been treated and discharged since the pandemic began, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

“I’m pleased to report that we are down to zero patients again,” said Moody.

This is the second time since the pandemic began that there have been zero hospitalizations at Henry Mayo. The first time Moody reported zero hospitalized COVID-19 patients was on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.

There were no new deaths reported today, keeping the total deaths at 148 people since the pandemic began. The last death occurred on May 21.

Privacy laws prohibit Henry Mayo from releasing the community of residence for patients who die at the hospital; residence info is reported by the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, which generally lags 48 hours behind.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard remains unchanged from last week’s update with 304 deaths among Santa Clarita Valley residents since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 304 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

260 in Santa Clarita

18 in Castaic

6 in Acton

6 in Stevenson Ranch

3 in Agua Dulce

4 in unincorporated Canyon Country

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Lake Hughes

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

1 in Valencia

1 in Val Verde

Of the 27,941 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

* City of Santa Clarita: 20,466

* Castaic: 3,731**(revised from 3,738) (incl. Pitchess Detention Center & North County Correctional Facility*)

* Stevenson Ranch: 1,160

* Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 850

* Acton: 480

* Val Verde: 337

* Agua Dulce: 283

* Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 195

* Saugus (unincorporated portion): 132

* Elizabeth Lake: 76

* Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 69

* Bouquet Canyon: 47

* Lake Hughes: 42

* Saugus/Canyon Country: 40

* Sand Canyon: 17

* San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 15

* Placerita Canyon: 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.

L.A. County Demographics — Cases by Age Group (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4: 29364

* 5 to 11: 56329

* 12 to 17: 70482

* 18 to 29: 279121

* 30 to 49: 391681

* 50 to 64: 227290

* 65 to 79: 90760

* over 80: 33171

* Under Investigation 665

L.A. County Vaccine Update

Starting today, Friday, May 28, through next Thursday, June 3, at all the county-run vaccination sites, LA City sites and the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center sites, everyone 18 and older getting their first COVID-19 vaccine or bringing a first-time vaccine recipient with them to their second dose appointment, will have an opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the 2021-2022 home season of either the LA Kings or the LA Galaxy. Two residents will be awarded prizes. More information, including official rules and participating site locations, can be found online on the Los Angeles County Vaccination Sweepstakes page.

COVID-19 vaccinations are available at County-run sites and many community sites without an appointment and many sites are open on weekends and have evening hours. Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County is eligible to be vaccinated. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

Public Health continues to build an extensive network with pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, hospitals, health clinics, and community vaccination sites, including these large-capacity sites:

* Dodger Stadium (operated by the city of Los Angeles)

* College of the Canyons, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91355

* Palmdale Oasis Park Recreation Center, 3850 E Ave S, Palmdale, CA 93550

* California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge 91330

* Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave, Pomona 91768

* The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood 90305

* L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey 90242

* California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles 90032 (operated by FEMA)

Public Health continues to support additional mobile vaccination teams that take vaccinations into neighborhoods to reach people who may have limited ability or time to get to one of the established vaccination sites. Mobile teams have set up ongoing daily sites to provide vaccines on a walk-in basis at public places such as senior housing and recreational centers, gathering places and service providers for people experiencing homelessness, educational settings, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations that provide care for specific health conditions, and food and agriculture sites. There are 200 sites where mobile teams will be offering vaccinations this week which are concentrated in higher-need, harder hit areas.

If there is a community event or workplace where there may be people needing to get vaccinated, Public Health encourages you to visit the Find a Vaccination Provider page to request a visit at your workplace, business, or special event from one of the mobile vaccination units or other vaccination partners in the community to provide vaccines.

From now through July 4th, Uber and Lyft are offering 4 free rides (up to 25$ each) to and from vaccination sites.

Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to learn how to make an appointment at vaccination sites, what verifications people will need to show at your vaccination appointment, and much more. If you don’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or you’re over 65, you can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment. There may be an extended wait time to speak with an operator for help making an appointment during high demand times. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

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.

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

All counties are under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity.

As always, local public health departments may implement policies that are more restrictive than the state.

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. The Blueprint summary as of May 25:

* 0 counties are currently in the Purple (widespread) Tier

* 8 counties are currently in the Red (substantial) Tier

* 35 counties are currently in the Orange (moderate) Tier

* 15 counties are in the Yellow (minimal) Tier (including L.A. County)

Find the status of activities in specific counties.

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 May 24, there have been 527 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide.

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.

Although very rare, COVID-19 cases among children can sometimes result a few weeks later in very serious illness known as Multi-symptom Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).

Vaccine Eligibility Update

As of May 13, vaccination appointments for individuals aged 12+ can be made by visiting myturn.ca.gov. The consent of a parent or legal guardian may be needed for those between the ages of 12 and 17 to receive a vaccination. For more information on the vaccine effort, visit Vaccinate All 58.

Tracking COVID-19 in California

* State Dashboard – Daily COVID-19 data

* County Map – Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity

* Data and Tools – Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists, and the public

* Blueprint for a Safer Economy – Data for establishing tier status

* COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data – Weekly updated Race & Ethnicity data

* Cases and Deaths by Age Group – Weekly updated Deaths by Age Group data

* Health Equity Dashboard – See how COVID-19 highlights existing inequities in health

* Tracking Variants – Data on the variants California is currently monitoring

* Safe Schools for All Hub – Information about safe in-person instruction

* School Districts Reopening Map – data on public schools and reported outbreaks

California Testing & Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboardreports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results.

During the week of May 16 to May 22, the average time patients waited for test results was under one day.

During this same time period, 87% of patients received test results in one day and 97% received them within two days.

Protect Yourself and Your Family: Your Actions Save Lives

Protect yourself, family, friends, and community by following these prevention measures:

* Getting vaccinated when it’s your turn. Californians age 16+ are eligible to make an appointment.

* Avoiding non-essential travel, and practicing self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival if you leave the state.

* Keeping interactions limited to people who live in your household.

* 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.

* 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.

* Getting tested if you believe you’ve been exposed. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

* Adding your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

* Answering the call if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or local health department tries to connect.

* 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 healthcare provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.

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, 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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