The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Friday confirmed 1,809 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths due to the virus countywide, with a total of 3,003 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began, 26 more cases than Thursday.

The SCV total includes 1,050 confirmed cases in the city of Santa Clarita.

To date, 30 SCV residents have died of the virus, according to Public Health records — 24 resided in the city of Santa Clarita, 2 in Acton, 2 in Castaic, 1 in unincorporated Valencia, and 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon.

Countywide, Public Health has reported 93,232 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 3,267 deaths to date. Ninety-four percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Public Health is also reporting increases in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate for testing over the last several weeks. The 7-day average of daily new cases is now 1,979; an increase from the 1,379 average two weeks ago.

There are 1,676 people currently hospitalized, higher than the 1,350 to 1,450 daily hospitalizations seen in recent weeks.

“Many across our communities have lost loved ones to COVID-19, and our hearts go out to all of you. You are in our thoughts and prayers every day,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of L.A. County Public Health.

Testing results are available for more than 1,020,000 individuals with 9% of people testing positive. Both the cumulative positivity rate has increased from 8% to 9%, and the 7-day average of the daily positivity rate has increased to 8.8%.

COVID-19 cases are spiking among L.A. County residents ages 18-40, with cases rising from 24,457 on June 10 to 35,429 on June 25, according to a Public Health tweet Friday afternoon.

Public Health reminds everyone that you remain safer at home and to always wear a face covering securely over your nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out and about.

“While we did anticipate increases in cases as sectors reopened, we did not expect the increases to be this steep this quickly,” Ferrer said. “Without immediate actions to slow the spread, we risk having too many people requiring hospital care and possibly overwhelming our healthcare system. Preventing the continued surge in cases and hospitalizations calls on each of us to do our part. The time for all of L.A. County to do the right thing is now. Please don’t take a chance infecting someone else – wear a face covering and keep your distance.”

Statewide, as of June 25, the California Department of Public Health has confirmed a total of 200,461 cases (up 4,890) and 5,812 deaths (up 79) from COVID-19.

Currently, there are 4,380 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,364 ICU hospitalizations in California. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

As of June 25, local health departments have reported 14,218 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 86 deaths statewide.

California’s positivity rate – a key indicator of community spread – is trending modestly upward in the 14-day average. Hospitalization rates over the long-term are showing a slight uptick in the 14-day average.

As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, an increase in the number of positive cases has been expected – increasing the importance of positivity rates to find signs of community spread.

California’s positivity rate is up to 5.7% over the last seven days, Gov. Gavin Newsom reported in his Friday press conference.

“We have to take this seriously,” he said, also calling for a reinstated “Stay at Home” order in Southern California’s Imperial County, where the positivity rate has jumped to 23 percent, overwhelming local hospitals.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
Of the 3,003 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 1,050

Castaic: 1,774 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 54

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 42

Val Verde: 25

Acton: 20

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 12

Agua Dulce: 12

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 5

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 3

Bouquet Canyon: 1

Lake Hughes: 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.

Henry Mayo Friday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 13th COVID-related death on Wednesday, June 17, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

The hospital is now releasing numbers on a weekly basis (Wednesdays) unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a death has been confirmed, Moody said.

As of Wednesday, June 24, of the 2,725 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 282 tested positive, 2,766 were negative, 50 were pending and 13 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. A total of 99 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested multiple times. “Often a single patient is tested more than once,” Moody said.

L.A. County Demographics

Nineteen people who died were over the age of 65 years old, four people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Twenty-two people had underlying health conditions including 19 people over the age of 65 years old, two people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. One death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,041 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 43% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Upon further investigation, 44 cases and four deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

As the weekend approaches, Public Health underscores the collective responsibility shared between everyone including businesses and residents to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, weekend visits to nightlife spots like bars, breweries, wineries, lounges and dive bars was around 700,000. Once “Safer at Home” went into effect, weekend visits dropped to around 200,000.

Recent estimated number of visits to nightlife spots in L.A. County have shown between April 6, when nightlife visits were at their lowest since the “Safer at Home” order wwent into effect, and June 20, the weekend after these businesses were permitted to reopen following infection control directives, visits increased 157%.

It is estimated that more than 500,000 people visited L.A. County nightlife spots on Saturday, June 20. Because this virus has not changed and is still easily transmitted among people in contact with each other, it is important for everyone to follow the directives and to do their part every day to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Best Protections
The best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing, and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household.

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, or until they receive a negative result.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a contact tracer to discuss how to protect themselves and others, to find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

People who have underlying health conditions remain at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, so it will continue to be very important for the county’s vulnerable residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and medicine delivered, and to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

The 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 Demographics
California Public Health is committed to health equity and collecting more detailed racial and ethnic data that will provide additional understanding for determining future action.

Health outcomes are affected by forces including structural racism, poverty and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African American Californians. Only by looking at the full picture can we understand how to ensure the best outcomes for all Californians.

The differences in health outcomes related to COVID-19 are most stark in COVID-19 deaths. We have nearly complete data on race and ethnicity for COVID-19 deaths, and we are seeing the following trends. 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.

Testing in California
As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, the California Department of Public Health is working to expand access to COVID-19 testing. Testing should be used for medical evaluation of persons with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as for efforts by public health agencies and essential employers to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

As of June 23, there have been 3,771,314 tests conducted in California and reported to the California Department of Public Health. This represents an increase of 76,969 tests over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

These numbers include data from commercial, private and academic labs, including Quest, LabCorp, Kaiser, University of California and Stanford, and the the 25 state and county health labs currently testing.

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

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 such 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.

California COVID-19 Data Portal
The state has launched a new, user-friendly data portal at COVID-19 Statewide Update that tracks COVID-19 cases statewide and by county, gender, age and ethnicity. The portal also outlines statewide hospitalizations and testing efforts. The data presented on the portal will be updated daily and will include additional information as it is available.

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.