The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Friday five new deaths and 3,606 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 29,884 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the new deaths reported Friday, one person who died was between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49 years old. Two deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health identified 1,297,032 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,676 deaths. There are 991 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 20% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for over 7,307,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Friday’s daily test positivity rate is 6.3%.

In parallel with the overall trend in L.A. County, the number of COVID-19 cases among people experiencing homelessness has increased significantly over the past few weeks. This week (for the period July 19-25), there were 111 new cases reported among people experiencing homelessness, an increase of 21% compared to last week, which had 92 reported cases of COVID-19. To date, 7,588 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County tested positive for COVID-19 and 216 people who were experiencing homelessness passed away from COVID-19. Of the people experiencing homelessness who passed away, 99 were sheltered, 71 were unsheltered, and for 46 people who passed away, their shelter status was unknown.

There are 1,066 providers administering vaccinations to people experiencing homelessness; together they have administered over 45,950 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County. Of the vaccinated people experiencing homelessness, 20,188 are fully vaccinated.

The County continues to work closely with partner organizations to vaccinate and protect people experiencing homelessness from COVID-19 infection. Coordination of vaccination work continues across sectors that might have some overlap with PEH, including faith-based organizations, DPH’s mobile teams targeting high morbidity areas, transportation hubs, etc. Approximately 129 events have been scheduled for this week through various partners, including Housing for Health (HFH). These events will take place at a variety of venues including food banks, shelters, public libraries, clinics, and others.

**More from Los Angeles County Public Health further below**

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
As of 5:30 p.m. Friday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard remained unchanged from Thursday, with 310 total COVID-19 related deaths in the SCV since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 310 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

268 in Santa Clarita

16 in Castaic (**revised initially from 18)

6 in Acton

6 in Stevenson Ranch

4 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

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 29,884 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 21,910

Castaic: 3,900

(includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 1,287

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 914

Acton: 519

Val Verde: 355

Agua Dulce: 310

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 218

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 141

Elizabeth Lake: 84

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 69

Bouquet Canyon: 51

Lake Hughes: 43

Saugus/Canyon Country: 46

Sand Canyon: 18

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 15

Placerita Canyon: 4

*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 Newhall Hospital Friday Update
As of Friday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital had zero tests pending, 23 patients hospitalized, a total of 1,300 patients treated and discharged since the pandemic began, and no additional deaths, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

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 generally lags 48 hours behind.

L.A. County

“I send my heartfelt condolences to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Given the high rate of community transmission in our county, our vaccination efforts remain critically important to reducing the impact of rising infection on our residents, including people experiencing homelessness who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. If you already had COVID-19 and recovered, you should still get vaccinated. There are severe health risks associated with COVID and reinfection is possible, particularly from variants of the virus. And if you haven’t received your second shot of a two-dose vaccine, you aren’t getting maximum protection against COVID-19. All of the emerging data on the Delta variant indicates that the vaccines do not provide significant protection unless you have received both doses, so please go get your second dose this weekend.”

As of July 25th, nearly 11 million doses have been administered to residents 12 years and older, including more than 6 million first doses and nearly 4.9 million second doses. More than 6.1 million L.A. County residents have received one dose, and nearly 5.4 million are fully vaccinated. 90% of County residents 65 years and over have been vaccinated, 71% of residents 16 years and over, and 70% of residents 12 years and over. We have vaccinated 50% of LA County teens between the ages of 12 and 17 years, and out of all 10.3 million LA County residents, including those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, 60% have received at least one dose, and 52% are fully vaccinated.

For the second week in a row, there was an uptick in first dose recipients after weeks of steadily declining weekly vaccination numbers: between July 19 and 25, we administered 69,558 doses across the entire County network, an increase of about 7,500 from the previous week.

To find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) 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 or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Friday

California Department of Public Health confirmed Friday 3,840,364 cases and 63,935 deaths to date. There are 3,722 confirmed hospitalizations and 828 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

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

There were 10,356 newly reported confirmed cases Thursday.

Cases are increasing statewide, largely among unvaccinated populations.

– For the week of July 14-20, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians is 20.7 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians is significantly lower at 3.5 per 100,000 per day.

– The vast majority of new cases are among the unvaccinated with 600% higher case rates among the unvaccinated than for those who are vaccinated.

The 7-day positivity rate is 6.4%.

There have been 73,566,888 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 185,144 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of July 30, providers have reported administering a total of 43,864,271 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 49,781,675 doses have been delivered to entities within the state. Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed. For more vaccination data, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard.

Health Care Workers

As of July 29, local health departments have reported 116,208 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 481 deaths statewide.

Stop the Spread: Get Vaccinated for COVID-19

The risk for COVID-19 exposure and infection continues as a number of Californians remain unvaccinated. With the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant, there is a renewed urgency to get all eligible Californians vaccinated as quickly as possible and complete their two-dose vaccination process if they are receiving Pfizer or Moderna.

CDPH is reminding unvaccinated Californians that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, free and provides excellent protection from severe COVID-19 illness, including the Delta variant, hospitalization, and death.

Individuals aged 12+ are eligible for vaccination. Visit myturn.ca.gov to make an appointment. Individuals aged 17 and younger may need the consent of a parent or legal guardian for vaccination. Visit Vaccinate All 58 to learn more about the safe and effective vaccines available.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of July 18 to July 24, the average time patients waited for test results was one day. During this same time period, 81% of patients received test results in one day and 94% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of July 26, there have been 583 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) 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.

Keep California Healthy
Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

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

– If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.

– If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

– Keep gatherings small and outdoors and follow state and local public health guidance.

– Wear a mask and get the most out of masking – an effective mask has both good fit and good filtration.

– Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

– Delay non-essential travel outside of California until you are fully vaccinated. Follow California’s travel advisory.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work and school if you feel ill.

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

– Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.

Additional data and udpates:

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

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

– Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

– California Department of Public Health

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

– Spanish

– World Health Organization

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

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.

For more information about what Californians can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) in California.

California continues to issue guidance on preparing and protecting California from COVID-19. Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.