Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Friday confirmed 50 new deaths and 2,024 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 34,596 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley. Additionally, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials confirmed one new death.

Of the 50 new deaths reported today, 12 people who passed away were over the age of 80, 13 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 14 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, five people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 29.

Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and two deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena. To date, Public Health identified 1,427,817 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 25,611 deaths.

“To everyone who has lost friends and family during this difficult time, we are wishing you peace and comfort, and our prayers remain with you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

The County has seen deaths rise over the course of August, the expected consequence of the July surge in cases. Death rates continue to be nearly flat in all vaccinated groups.

There are 1,368 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized, a decrease of 273 people over the past week.

Testing results are available for nearly 8,313,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Today’s test positivity rate is 2.5%.

Decrease in Case Rates

Los Angeles County’s 7-day cumulative case rate decreased 35% from last week to 104 new cases per 100,000 residents. This is the third week in a row of decreases in the County’s case rate.

Overall, the County has seen a 50% decrease from the peak of 204 cases per 100,000 on Aug. 19.

These recent declines may reflect the masking requirements implemented early in the surge and the small increases in the County’s vaccination coverage. Other parts of the country that do not have masking requirements and don’t have as much vaccination coverage have not seen these significant declines in cases.

COVID-19 Variant Update

The Delta variant now accounts for 100% of the COVID-19 strains seen among samples sequenced in the Los Angeles County area.

This variant is more infectious and more efficiently transmitted between people compared with earlier COVID-19 strains. While emerging data affirms that fully vaccinated people are well protected from severe infections with Delta variants, it now is clear that fully vaccinated people can become infected, and if infected with Delta, can infect others.

As a result of reanalyzing many samples with an updated version of the genetic library used to identify variants, a lab that performs much of the variant sequencing reclassified many older specimens as Mu or Lambda variants, resulting in an increase in the total number of these variants reported linked to L.A. County residents.

To date, 232 cases linked to Mu variants and 28 cases linked to Lambda variants have been identified. Most of those specimens were collected earlier in the summer.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard confirmed a total of 325 COVID-19 related deaths in the SCV since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 325 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

275 in Santa Clarita

18 in Castaic

9 in Acton

7 in Stevenson Ranch

6 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

2 in Val Verde

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

1 in Valencia

0 in Lake Hughes (**revised from 1)

Cases:

Of the 34,596 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 25,458

Castaic: 4,260 (incl. Pitchess Detention Center & North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 1,570

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,080

Acton: 663

Val Verde: 409

Agua Dulce: 375

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 256

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 158

Elizabeth Lake: 98

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 70

Bouquet Canyon: 62

Saugus/Canyon Country: 46

Lake Hughes: 49

Sand Canyon: 21

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 17

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.

William S. Hart Union High School District COVID-19 Dashboard

The William S. Hart Union High School District provides ongoing information to our community regarding COVID-19 cases while maintaining confidentiality for our students and staff. The COVID-19 case data below is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff members or students by school site. The data below is specific to individuals who have been physically present on a District campus within 14 days of receiving a positive COVID-19 test. The District, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, conducts contact tracing and directly notifies and provides resources for parents of students identified as close contacts (6 feet or less for 15 cumulative minutes or more).

Note: To see the communication process in the event of a positive COVID-19 case, visit https://www.hartdistrict.org/apps/pages/covid-19dashboard.

Student Dashboard:

Student Dashboard: The COVID-19 case data is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff by school site.

Staff Dashboard:

Staff Dashboard: The COVID-19 case data is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff by school site.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Friday Update

As of Friday, Sept. 10, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported zero tests pending, 30 patients hospitalized and a total of 1,468 patients treated and discharged since the pandemic began, with one additional death, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

The hospital’s death toll as a result of COVID-19 now stands at 163.

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.

California Friday Snapshot

California Department of Public Health confirmed Friday 4,331,605 cases and 66,422 deaths to date.

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

There were 9,244 newly reported confirmed cases Thursday.

As of Sept. 9, local health departments have reported 122,817 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 496 deaths statewide.

Cases are increasing statewide, largely among unvaccinated populations:

– For the week of August 22 – August 28, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians age 16 or older is 80.12 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians age 16 or older is significantly lower at 10.33 per 100,000 per day.

– The great majority of new cases are among unvaccinated individuals. The rate among the unvaccinated is 7.8 times the rate among the vaccinated.

The 7-day positivity rate is 4.7%.

There have been 85,528,864 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 296,579 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of Sept. 10, according to the CDC, 81.7% of eligible Californians have received at least one dose. Providers have reported to CDPH that a total of 47,724,636 vaccine doses have been administered statewide.

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.

See more California information later in this report.

L.A. County Vaccine Update

As of Sept. 5, 91% of L.A. County residents 65 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 76% of residents 16 and over and 75% of residents 12 and over.

Sixty-six percent of residents 12 and over have been fully vaccinated. Sixty-four percent of L.A. County teens between the ages of 12 and 17 received at least one dose and 54% are fully vaccinated. Countywide, more than 54,000 additional doses have been administered by L.A. County providers as a third dose for people who are immunocompromised.

Out of the nearly 10.3 million L.A. County residents, including those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, 65% have received at least one dose, and 57% are fully vaccinated.

Among the more than 5.3 million fully vaccinated people in L.A. County, Public Health identified 43,598 people fully vaccinated who tested positive for COVID-19 as of September 7; this remains less than 1% of all those vaccinated have become infected with COVID-19. Of those who tested positive, 1,243 were hospitalized, up from 1,049 the week prior.

This translates to 0.023% of all fully vaccinated people were hospitalized. Deaths in this group over this interval increased, from 118 to 165, to 0.0031%. When we have a vaccine that provides excellent protection from COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths but somewhat less protection from infection and transmission, we will see rising infections among vaccinated people, especially when community transmission is high.

In April of this year, the case rate ratio indicated unvaccinated people were 6.5 times more likely than vaccinated people to become infected. As the months progressed, the rate ratio slowly declined as more vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19. Nonetheless, unvaccinated people remain 4 times more likely to get COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated.

Also, in April of this year, the ratio for hospitalizations indicated vaccinated people were more than 5 times less likely than unvaccinated people to be hospitalized for COVID-19. Since April, the protective effect of vaccination on hospitalization has nearly doubled, with unvaccinated people nearly 12 times less likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated people in August of this year.

Deaths among unvaccinated people were exceedingly rare. Even with the small increase in deaths among those fully vaccinated during the late summer, in July and August, unvaccinated individuals were 10 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those vaccinated.

These findings reassure us that the vaccine is doing its very important work of dramatically reducing illness and suffering from COVID-19 among the people who are vaccinated.

Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.
Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to learn how to make an appointment at vaccination sites. 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. 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.

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 Sept. 6, there have been 592 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide (**revised from 596).

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

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

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

* 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 Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.4 days.

During this same time period, 62% of patients received test results in one day and 87% 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.

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.

* * * * *

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.

* * * * *