Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials confirmed Friday 17 new deaths and 1,942 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 39,281 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the 17 new deaths reported today, seven people who passed away were over the age of 80, five people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, three people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 and all had underlying conditions.

“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.

To date, Public Health has identified 1,532,430 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 27,225 deaths.

There are 569 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 9,468,226 individuals, with 15% of people testing positive. Today’s test positivity rate is 1%.

COVID Cases Among People Experiencing Homelessness

Public Health is reporting that COVID-19 cases among people experiencing homelessness decreased for the second month in a row. These results are likely to reflect increases in vaccination coverage. As of Nov. 17, 33,907 homeless individuals have been fully vaccinated and 1,686 have received a booster or additional dose. Of the total doses administered, 86% were mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna,) and of those starting an mRNA dose, 80% have already completed their second dose.

For the week ending Nov. 14, there were 44 confirmed cases, down from the 63 cases reported the week of Oct.11.

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

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

Staff Dashboard

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital

On Friday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported zero tests pending, 14 patients in the hospital, 1,660 patients discharged and no additional deaths, confirmed spokesman Patrick Moody.

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.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded a total of 362 COVID-19 deaths to date in the SCV.

The following is the community breakdown of the 362 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

300 in Santa Clarita

21 in Castaic

12 in Acton

9 in Stevenson Ranch

6 in unincorporated Canyon Country

5 in Agua Dulce

3 in Val Verde

2 in Valencia

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

0 in Lake Hughes (**revised from 1)

SCV Cases

Of the 39,281 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 28,849

* Castaic: 4,637

Stevenson Ranch: 1,893

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,235

Acton: 827

Val Verde: 453

Agua Dulce: 434

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 314

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 179

Elizabeth Lake: 126

Bouquet Canyon: 80

Lake Hughes: 77

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 70

Saugus/Canyon Country: 55

Sand Canyon: 24

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 23

Placerita Canyon: 5

*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.

L.A. County/ Monitoring Omicron

This past week, Public Health has been tracking the emergence and spread of Omicron, labeled a variant of concern by both the WHO and the CDC. Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) received confirmation of its first case of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with the new Omicron variant (B.1.1.529). The individual returned to Los Angeles County after travel to South Africa via London on 11/22/2021. This infection is most likely travel-related.

Getting vaccinated or boosted remains critical as holiday traveling and gatherings begin. The vaccines are effective against the Delta variant and earlier strains of the virus, which allows us to remain hopeful that the approved vaccines will also provide some protection against Omicron. All residents across LA County should continue adhering to the masking requirements and wear a mask when indoors or at large outdoor mega events – regardless of vaccination status. Individuals should also wear a mask when at any crowded indoor or outdoor events.

Testing is an important tool in early detection of infection to reduce spread and Public Health encourages residents who have traveled for the holidays to get tested if they traveled internationally or to locations in this country with high transmission rates. Beginning today, international travelers arriving at the LAX international terminal are being offered free rapid COVID-19 tests and information on federal recommendations for quarantining and testing.

Residents should also get tested if they participated at gatherings and events with large numbers of people, some of which may be unvaccinated. Residents are reminded that they are legally required to be isolated if they have a positive COVID test result and that vaccinated close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined.

“As we enter winter and face the Omicron variant, using what we have learned over the past 2 years will make a big difference for friends and families preparing to gather for the holidays and those most at-risk. We are grateful to our partners for the encouraging trends, as at least 80% of people experiencing homelessness have received their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and appreciate the continued efforts to improve coverage,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

Anyone five years and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments are not needed at all Public Health vaccination sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

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 Update

The California Department of Public Health released the most recent statistics on COVID-19 Friday and updates on the state’s pandemic response. The most up to date data is available on the state’s COVID-19 data dashboard.

Statewide COVID-19 Data

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are largely occurring among unvaccinated populations. See the data for unvaccinated and vaccinated cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

– Unvaccinated people were 7.2 times more likely to get COVID-19 (data from Nov. 11, 2021 to Nov. 20, 2021).

– Unvaccinated people were 12.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 (data from Nov. 7, 2021 to November 13, 2021).

– Unvaccinated people were 14.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 (data from Oct. 31, 2021 to Nov. 6, 2021).

Vaccinations

– 59,110,548 total vaccines administered.

– 75.6% of the eligible population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 136,033 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 4,822,889 confirmed cases to date.

– Monday’s average case count is 3,775 (average daily case count over 7 days).

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 2.9% (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 3,521 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 895 ICU patients statewide.

Deaths

– There have been 74,046 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 55 Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

Health Care Workers

As of Dec. 2, local health departments have reported 131,086 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 530 deaths statewide.

Omicron Variant

The California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health issued a joint statement on the Omicron variant on Dec. 1, 2021. The recent emergence of the Omicron variant further emphasizes the importance of getting a vaccine, booster and taking prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19. For more information about the variant, see the Omicron variant fact sheet.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of Nov. 21 to Nov. 27, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.0 day. During this same time period, 83% of patients received test results in one day and 94% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Nov. 29, there have been 723 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.