The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 11 new deaths throughout L.A. County, 1,073 new cases countywide and 15 new cases in the Santa Clarita Valley. Today’s case count includes one week’s worth of cases (266) from Long Beach, as that jurisdiction has moved to weekly reporting.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 35,814, county case totals to 3,712,457 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 98,646 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 remain at 551.

The 7-day average positivity rate is 5.33%.

There are 604 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 12,955,460 individuals, with 25% of people testing positive.

Los Angeles County Aligns with State; Local Orders Will Address Enhanced Protections in High-Risk Settings

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will align with the following new guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health:

— Masking: With current COVID case and hospitalization levels, masking for the general public is based on individual preference. Vulnerable populations, including people who are elderly, immunocompromised, or have underlying health conditions, and those who have contact with them should consider masking in indoor public spaces.

— Vaccination: On April 3, CDPH will rescind COVID-19 vaccination orders for workers at correctional, detention and adult care facilities.

— Isolation: Starting March 13, individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 should continue to isolate (stay home) for 5 days and may leave isolation after day 5, as long as they have been fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medicines) and they either have no symptoms or their symptoms are mild and improving. A negative COVID-19 test is no longer required to leave isolation between days 6-10. The Department of Public Health strongly recommends that people test negative prior to leaving isolation between days 6-10.

Infected people should wear a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days. People may now discontinue wearing a mask around others between days 6-10 if they have two sequential negative tests taken at least one day apart.

— Quarantine: Starting March 13, it is strongly recommended but not required that a person who is a close contact to a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 wears a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days, especially in indoor settings or when near those who are at high risk for severe illness. It is recommended that close contact tests as soon as possible to determine infection status and then, if negative, test again within 3-5 days after the last known exposure.

The Department of Public Health will continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and to protect the county’s most vulnerable residents by continuing to require robust COVID-19 case and cluster reporting by worksites, schools and healthcare facilities to the Department of Public Health. The ongoing case and cluster reporting requirements are intended to help Public Health officials quickly identify sectors where there may be increased COVID-19 transmissions and take action to prevent unmitigated spread.

Public Health will also continue enhanced protective measures in healthcare settings. Specifically, Public Health will continue to require:

— Healthcare workers to be vaccinated and boosted and wear a mask during patient care or working in patient care areas. This requirement will be re-assessed by the end of September 2023.

Monitoring L.A. County Early Alert Signals, including observing wastewater and new variant trends, and examining emergency department visit metrics will also continue in addition to COVID-19 surveillance in high-risk settings

Public Health will continue to work to provide free vaccinations, boosters, testing and treatment, regardless of immigration or insurance status.

L.A. County remains in the CDC’s Low COVID-19 Community Level for the eighth consecutive week. This includes a 7-day case rate of 57 new cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from the week prior. The 7-day total for new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people is currently 5.9, a small decrease from last week. And the 7-day average of the proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is now 3.7%, down from the week prior.

Even with less stringent guidelines, Los Angeles County residents are strongly recommended to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, test before gatherings and get treatment and stay home when sick. The updated bivalent booster has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths when compared to individuals who had been vaccinated but had not received the updated booster. During the 30-day period ending Feb. 21, people who were vaccinated against COVID-19, yet had not received the bivalent booster, were over three times less likely to be hospitalized compared to people who were unvaccinated and 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to those who had the updated booster as well.

Find a location to get boosted at VaccinateLACounty.com, VacunateLosAngeles.com (en español).

Telehealth services to connect residents to COVID-19 medication can be reached at 833-540-0473, 8 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.; 7 days a week.

“To those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, please accept my heartfelt sympathies during this difficult time. May their memories be a source of comfort and strength,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “As we move forward, I share with many others the goal of keeping each other safe and healthy by making sure that critical resources remain available. Because we now know so much more about COVID-19 – how it spreads, who is most vulnerable, and how we can prevent severe illness, which can also help decrease the risk for long COVID and help to avoid future health issues that may arise from a COVID infection – it remains important to work together to keep transmission low.”

For more information about vaccinations and boosters, testing and treatment, visit VaccinateLACounty.com or VacunateLosAngeles.com (en español) or call 1-833-540-0473 seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

COVID-19 Daily Data (cases, deaths, testing, testing positivity rate, mortality rate, and hospitalizations)

Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity and City/Community Cases and Deaths

Contact Tracing Metrics

Skilled Nursing Facility Metrics

Citations due to Health Officer Order Noncompliance

Outbreaks:

Residential Congregate Settings

Non-Residential Settings

Homeless Service Settings

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

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/

California Department of Public Health:

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Spanish https://espanol.cdc.gov/enes/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

World Health Organization https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

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

To keep workplaces and schools open, residents and workers are asked to:

– Get tested to help reduce the spread, especially if you traveled for the holidays, have had a possible exposure, or have symptoms, or are gathering with people not in your household

– Adhere to masking requirements when indoors or at crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status

– Residents are legally required to be isolated if they have a positive COVID test result and vaccinated close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined.

For information on where you can get tested, please visit www.covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/.

For updated isolation and quarantine guidance, please visit www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are recommended for everyone 5 years old and older to help protect against COVID-19. 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 and many community sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

To find a vaccination site near you, or to make an appointment, please visit:

www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or

www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

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.

Schools Community Dashboard

Student Dashboard

Staff Dashboard

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update

As of 4 p.m. Friday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported no additional deaths, leaving the total number of deaths in the SCV at 551.

NOTE: As of Dec. 20, 2022, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health switched to a new geocoding process to improve the accuracy and completeness of geocoded data. Geocoding is the process of assigning an address to specific geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude). As a result, approximately 1,500 cases (0.04%) were removed from the cumulative count as they were determined to be out of jurisdiction with the improved geocoding. The switch to this improved process also resulted in minor changes to cumulative case/death counts by Supervisor District, Service Planning Area, city/community, and area poverty categories.

The following is the community breakdown per L.A. County’s dashboard:

Santa Clarita: 450

Castaic: 30 (revised from 33)

Acton: 18 (revised from 19)

Stevenson Ranch: 18

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 10

Agua Dulce: 7

Val Verde: 6

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Lake Hughes: 2

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Newhall: 1

Unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

SCV Cases

Of the 98,646 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 72,686

Castaic: 9,572

Stevenson Ranch: 5,934

Canyon Country: 3,737

Acton: 2,005

Val Verde: 1,214

Agua Dulce: 985

Valencia: 930

Saugus: 343

Elizabeth Lake: 286

Bouquet Canyon: 204

Lake Hughes: 203

Saugus/Canyon Country: 130

Newhall: 105

Sand Canyon: 63

San Francisquito: 44

Placerita Canyon: 24

*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.

California Friday

The California Department of Public Health now updates their numbers on Thursdays. The information below is from the most recent data released Thursday, March 9.

Vaccinations

– 88,280,319 total vaccines administered.

– 72.7% of the population has been vaccinated with a primary series.

– 8,995 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 11,146,227 confirmed cases to date.

– Average case count is 2,612 (average daily case count over 7 days).

– During January 2023, unvaccinated people were 2.6 times more likely to get COVID-19 than people who were vaccinated with at least a primary series.

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 5.9% (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 2,375 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 279 ICU patients statewide.

– During January 2023, unvaccinated people were 2.6 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than people who were vaccinated with at least a primary series.

Deaths

– There have been 100,640 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 17 Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

– During January 2023, unvaccinated people were 2.9 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people who were vaccinated with at least a primary series.

Health Care Workers

As of March 8, local health departments have reported 192,269 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 602 deaths statewide.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). This is the most recent data reported:

As of Dec. 19, there have been 1,048 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.

Slow the Spread: Get Vaccinated and Boosted for COVID-19

The risk for COVID-19 exposure and infection continues as a number of Californians remain unvaccinated and unboosted.

Real-world evidence continues to show that the vaccine is preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Public health officials urge Californians to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.

It is recommended that every individual six months of age and older receive their primary COVID-19 vaccine series and booster dose.

Your Actions Save Lives

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

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

– 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.