The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 23 new deaths and 2,108 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the third consecutive day of new cases exceeding 1,800, and the first time the number of new cases reached above 2,100 since mid-August.

Over the last three days, a total of 6,016 new cases have been reported countywide, according to Public Health officials.

The SCV, with 58 new cases reported since yesterday, has now tallied 7,653 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 76 deaths from the virus since March 11, when the World Health Organization declared the pandemic.

Public Health has counted 7,157 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 317,656 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. county to date. Upon further investigation, 16 cases and six deaths reported earlier were not county residents.

There are 821 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide, and 29% of them are in the ICU.

Test results are available for more than 3,220,000 county residents, with 9% of all people testing positive.

“Many people across our county are grieving a family member or friend who has passed away from COVID-19. We send you our deepest condolences during this difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, director of Public Health.

“We have experienced increasing cases in L.A. County before and have demonstrated that we can get back to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives when we are united in our efforts to minimize infections,” Ferrer said.

“With so many people newly infected each day, there are a lot more opportunities for virus transmission if we continue to intermingle with lots of people outside our households,” she said. “We are strongly recommending that everyone limit their interactions with people outside their household as much as possible as we work together to lower the number of new cases.”

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

California Friday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Thursday, November 5, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 951,094 COVID-19 cases (up 6,518), with 17,866 deaths from the disease (up 51).

There are 2,765 confirmed hospitalizations and 822 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing an upward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 3.6% and the 14-day positivity rate is 3.4%, continuing an upward trend.

As of November 5, local health departments have reported 45,548 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 207 deaths statewide.

There have been 19,396,349 COVID-19 tests conducted in California, an increase of 129,986 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.

COVID Worldwide: Nearing 50 Million Cases, 10 Million in U.S.

Worldwide, 49,129,021 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 1,239,896 people have died of the virus as of 12:24 Friday afternoon Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

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 Friday afternoon, November 6, 2020.

The past week has been among the highest in the number of deaths per week since the pandemic began — 52,200 people around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

On Wednesday, the U.S. set a record for the highest number of new cases to date, then broke that record the next day, reporting more than 118,300 new infections on Thursday.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 9,678,326 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 (see graph). The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 235,541.

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, No. 2 Brazil (population 209.5 million) has 5,612,319 cases and a death toll of 161,736. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 8,411,724 confirmed cases and 124,985 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Friday Update

Henry Mayo releases complete statistics weekly, generally on Wednesdays, according to spokesman Patrick Moody. Due to technical issues at Henry Mayo, SCVNews received a complete update for this week on Thursday, Nov. 5.

As of Thursday, of the 10,527 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 1,065 tested positive, 12,635 were negative, 34 were pending, 13 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, a total of 315 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far, with the number of deceased remaining at 32, Moody said.

Privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing the community of residence for patients who die; that info is reported by L.A. County Public Health.

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

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, November 6, the latest update to its COVID-19 data dashboard, L.A. County Public Health reported 76 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

Of those 76 SCV residents who died, 63 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 4 in Castaic, 3 in Acton, 3 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 7,653 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 4,650

Castaic: 2,211 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 206

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 178

Val Verde: 106

Acton: 89

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 53

Agua Dulce: 41

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 39

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 28

Saugus/Canyon Country: 12

Bouquet Canyon: 10

Elizabeth Lake: 9

Sand Canyon: 7

Lake Hughes: 6

San Francisquito/Couquet 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.

Contact Tracing Update

As COVID-19 spread increases in L.A. County, Public Health urges participation with case investigation and contact tracing efforts. Obtaining as much information as possible from people who are positive during the case investigation interview helps contain the virus and minimize outbreaks.

While contact tracing cannot slow this virus on its own, is a crucial part of protecting the health of communities.

To date, more than 157,000 people who are or were positive for COVID-19 completed the case investigation interview process and more than 71,000 of their close contacts completed interviews.

Anyone who receives a positive lab result or has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 should expect a call from a Public Health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, how to isolate or quarantine, how to access services and providers, and to talk through other concerns or questions a case or contact may have. We encourage anyone who receives a call from Public Health to speak to our Public Health specialist.

If a Public Health specialist calls, it will display on your phone as “LA Public Health” or as 833-641-0305.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results, to stay at home and isolate until they receive results. If the results are positive, then they will need to self-isolate for 10 days and 24 hours after symptoms and fever subside.

Public Health reminds anyone with a positive lab result who has not yet connected with a Public Health specialist to call 1-833-540-0473 for support and information about services. Residents who do not have COVID-19 should continue calling 211 for resources or more information.

Holiday Gatherings Update

As the holiday season approaches and COVID-19 spread is increasing, it is critically important that everyone follows the simple public health safety measures that provide protection from COVID-19 and minimizes spreading it to friends and family.

There is a high level of risk associated with gatherings of any kind, especially when people are inside, and not keeping a physical distance of at least 6 feet and wearing face coverings.

Because COVID-19 spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets, face coverings combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and physical distancing, provides the best protection.

If you are planning to get together with others, it is important that your plan follows the Public Health safety guidance on small private gatherings; this includes gathering outdoors only, with up to two other households, for less than two hours.

More L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 23 new deaths reported Friday, 11 people who died were over the age of 80 years old, six people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and six people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old.

Twenty-one people who died had underlying health conditions including 10 people over the age of 80, six people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and five people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old.

Ninety-three percent of the people who have died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4 5348

* 5 to 11 11493

* 12 to 17 14138

* 18 to 29 74719

* 30 to 49 102949

* 50 to 64 57786

* 65 to 79 22812

* over 80 10084

* Under Investigation 1877

More L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,748 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, 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 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.

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 October 25 to October 31, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.3 days. During this same time period, 63 percent of patients received test results in 1 day and 88 percent received them within 2 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 2, 126 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, seven 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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