The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Friday reported 35 new deaths and 4,272 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 countywide.

The SCV has now tallied 8,634 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 80 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.

Over the last three days, there have been a total of 13,247 new cases reported — a three-day average of 4,415 daily new cases, Public Health officials said.

The county’s daily test positivity rate, or the percentage of tests that come back positive, has also increased significantly and now is 7.3%. The test positivity rate was 3.9% on November 1.

To date, Public Health has counted 7,396 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 357,451 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. county. Upon further investigation, 53 cases and two deaths reported earlier were not county residents.

“Our hearts go out to all of those grieving the loss of someone they love to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

There are 1,298 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide; 27% of the patients are in the ICU. This is a 78% increase from a month ago when daily hospitalizations were 730. The last time the county saw numbers this high at our hospitals was in August.

Testing results are available for more than 3,500,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive for COVID-19.

“The increases we are seeing now are a result of the actions we took two weeks ago,” Ferrer said.

“The time to act is now so in two to three weeks, we will not continue to experience even higher case counts, more people dying from COVID-19, and our health care system seriously stressed,” she said.

“Please stay home as much as possible with those in your household,” Ferrer said. “Please cancel non-essential travel out of the state or out of the country. Modify your Thanksgiving plans. The safest way to celebrate is with your immediate household. If your household will be joined by two other households, hold your gathering outdoors with physical distance and face coverings. And please continue to wear your face covering properly over your nose and mouth whenever you are around others.”

The Los Angeles County Health Officer Order is being modified to align the closing Orders with the State’s Health Officer Order; this includes adopting the same hours of 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. for restricted operations.

Read more about the restrictions taking effect Friday.

See more L.A. County updates later in this report.

California Friday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Thursday, November 19, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 1,072,272 COVID-19 cases (up 13,005), with 18,557 deaths from the disease (up 91) since the pandemic began.

There are 4,755 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,240 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing an upward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 5.9% and the 14-day positivity rate is 5.2%, continuing a sharp upward trend.

As case numbers continue to rise statewide, the number of patients who will have serious outcomes will also increase.

As of November 17, local health departments have reported 48,906 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 211 deaths statewide.

There have been 21,730,551 tests COVID-19 tests conducted in California, an increase of 178,023 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results include cases from prior to yesterday.

See more California info later in this report.

Screencap from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 dashboard, showing COVID cases in the United States as of late Friday morning, November 20, 2020.

COVID Worldwide: 57.3 Million People Infected, U.S. Hits New Daily Cases Record

Worldwide, 57,309,785 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 1,368,117 people have died of the virus as of 11:25 a.m. Friday Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 11,808,698 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The U.S. hit another new record high in new cases Friday — more than 194,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Hospitalizations continue at record levels nationwide. The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 253,458.

With 4.25% of the world’s population (328.2 million) and more than 20% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, the U.S. also continues to lead the world in deaths.

By comparison, Brazil (population 209.5 million) is No. 2 in deaths with 168,061, and No. 3 in cases with 5,981,767. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 9,004,365 confirmed cases and 132,162 deaths as of Friday morning.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Friday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital releases complete statistics weekly, generally on Wednesdays, unless a new death occurs, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

As of Wednesday, November 18, of the 11,502 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 1,188 tested positive, 13,932 were negative, 10 were pending, 20 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (one fewer than last week), a total of 348 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far, Moody said.

The number of patients who have died at the hospital due to COVID-19 stands at 35, he confirmed.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers at the hospital are due to some patients being tested multiple times.

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

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, November 18, the latest update to its COVID-19 data dashboard, L.A. County Public Health reported a total of 80 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

Of those 80 SCV residents who have died, 65 lived in Santa Clarita, 6 in Castaic, 3 in Acton, 3 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia, according to the data dashboard.

Of the 8,634 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 5,423

Castaic: 2,298 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 256

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 198

Val Verde: 113

Acton: 98

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 59

Agua Dulce: 54

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 46

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 31

Bouquet Canyon: 16

Saugus/Canyon Country: 12

Elizabeth Lake: 10

Lake Hughes: 10

Sand Canyon: 7

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 3

*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.

All Sectors Experiencing Outbreaks in L.A. County

Every sector that is open across the county has experienced cases and outbreaks among those working or receiving services. This happens because wherever individuals are in contact with others, there can be the transmission of the virus, even by asymptomatic people.

Full adherence to the Public Health directives allows for significant containment of transmission at each site.

Schools are no different from other sectors that have re-opened; people providing or receiving services at the school may test positive for the virus. Public Health specialists work closely with every school that has a positive case to implement an established outbreak management plan that reduces spread of the virus across the school community; to date, these efforts have been fairly effective.

As of Thursday, November 19, there are more than 1,750 schools open throughout L.A. County serving students with high need and 168 schools with waiver approvals serving students in grades TK-2. There are nearly 96,000 students receiving services provided by about 36,000 staff on-site at schools.

To date, 116 students and 299 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 across 286 school sites; 0.1% of students and 1% of staff receiving or providing services at schools have tested positive.

The majority of school sites had only 1 or 2 cases, with little or no transmission at the school.

There are 16 schools that experienced small outbreaks where 3 or 4 people tested positive. One additional school has an outbreak with 12 people testing positive; all cases are among individuals who traveled together to play in a baseball competition in Arizona.

Public Health officials will continue to partner with the L.A. County Office of Education to provide support for schools that are re-opening.

More L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 35 new deaths reported Friday, 15 people who died were over the age of 80 years old, 11 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, five people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old.

Twenty-four people who died had underlying health conditions including 10 people over the age of 80 years old, 10 people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, three people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and one person between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach and one death was reported by the City of Pasadena.

Ninety-three percent of the people who have died from COVID-19 to date had underlying health conditions. Hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes are the most common underlying health conditions among people hospitalized with COVID-19. Many people have multiple underlying health conditions.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)
Young people are driving the surge of the virus’s spread with disastrous results for our elderly.

In the last month, the case rate for residents age 18 to 29 years old has more than doubled, from 11.5 cases per 100,000 people to 25 cases per 100,000 people.

The second-highest group, residents ages 30 through 49 years old, has nearly doubled from 9.4 cases to 18 cases per 100,000 people.

* 0 to 4 6173

* 5 to 11 13372

* 12 to 17 16398

* 18 to 29 84796

* 30 to 49 115838

* 50 to 64 64513

* 65 to 79 25223

* over 80 10861

* Under Investigation 2183

More L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,989 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 52% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 14% among Asian residents, 9% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Additionally, Pacific Islanders, Latino/Latinx residents and African American/Black residents consistently have the highest rate of hospitalizations across age groups.

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.

California Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Governor Gavin Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.

Californians can go to covid19.ca.gov to find out where their county falls and what activities are allowable in each county.

4-Week Limited Stay at Home Order Statewide

In light of an unprecedented, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced Thursday a limited Stay at Home Order requiring generally that non-essential work, movement and gatherings stop between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in counties in the purple tier.

The order will take effect at 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, and remain in effect until 5 a.m. Monday, Dec. 21.

Read more here.

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

The testing turnaround dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. California has worked to reduce testing turnaround times in recent weeks to help curb the spread of the virus.

During the week of November 8 to November 14, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.3 days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

All four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020, will have equal priority for testing.

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 November 16, 129 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, two more than the previous week.

To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, CDPH is 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, 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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