Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported four additional COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, bringing the hospital’s total to 195, spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

On Monday, the hospital reported one test pending, 22 patients in the hospital, and a total of 1,709 patients who have been treated and discharged since the pandemic began.

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.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials confirmed Monday nine additional deaths and 7,425 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 42,106 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

**Note: Monday’s number of cases and deaths reflect the weekend reporting delays. Of the nine new deaths reported Monday, three were between the ages of 50 and 64, one was between the ages of 65-79 and five were over the age of 80 years old. Of the nine newly reported deaths, six had underlying conditions.

To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 27,555.

Public Health would like to remind residents that getting vaccinated or boosted remains critical as holiday traveling and gatherings continues. Additionally, all residents across L.A. County should:

– 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 large outdoor mega events, regardless of vaccination status

– Residents are also 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 quarantine.

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.

Getting vaccinated or boosted is most important as we go into the holiday season where many will be traveling and gathering with others. 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. Residents can walk-in to any Public Health vaccination site or make an appointment at the hundreds of additional sites across the county. For more information, visit VaccinateLACounty.com.

More from L.A. County 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

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update
As of 5:15 p.m. Monday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported one additional death in the city of Santa Clarita, bringing the total number to 374 COVID-19 deaths to date in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The following is the community breakdown of the 374 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

308 in Santa Clarita

23 in Castaic

13 in Acton

9 in Stevenson Ranch

7 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 42,106 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 30,928

* Castaic: 4,867

Stevenson Ranch: 2,106

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,354

Acton: 896

Val Verde: 473

Agua Dulce: 463

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 348

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 194

Elizabeth Lake: 131

Bouquet Canyon: 91

Lake Hughes: 78

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.

Los Angeles County

Healthcare Worker Case Numbers Rising, Despite High Vaccination Levels

Public Health reports a high proportion of healthcare workers, across a variety of settings, are fully vaccinated (with either two doses of an mRNA vaccine, or one dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccine). As of mid-November, 91% of hospital workers, 93% of dialysis workers, and 83% of EMS workers were vaccinated; as of Dec. 12, 96% of skilled nursing facility staff were also fully vaccinated. Nevertheless, with increased community transmission, cases among healthcare workers are now rising.

During the week ending on Dec. 18, a total 292 cases were identified among L.A. County healthcare workers, an increase of 26% from the previous week. Meanwhile, 46% of hospitals in the county are reporting staffing shortages, compared with 20% at the outset of last winter’s case surge.

In alignment with the State of California, L.A. County’s new Health Officer Order requiring booster doses for all healthcare workers is a key protective step aimed at reducing infections by increasing the numbers of workers with the optimal safety provided by the booster does. And while health care workers are generally highly vaccinated, many have not yet received their booster dose; for example, though fully vaccinated staff rates remain very high in the skilled nursing facility setting, the proportion of those who have received booster doses lags behind at approximately 50-60%.

The revised order, issued Dec. 23, requires booster-eligible workers in healthcare settings be boosted by February 1st, 2022 or be tested for COVID-19 twice a week beginning December 27th (if in acute health care or long-term care settings). The order also recommends all workers upgrade their face coverings to surgical masks or higher-level respirators (such as an N95 mask). The goal of this order is to protect L.A. County’s healthcare workers, patients, facility residents, and community at large by ensuring an essential workforce remains as healthy and protected as possible.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Keeping healthcare workers safe is critical to maintaining functionality across our healthcare facilities when surges lead to rising rates of hospitalizations,” Ferrer continued. “Across multiple healthcare settings, our health care personnel have given their all and been fully vaccinated at high levels for many months. However, the threat of rising cases and concerning hospital staffing shortages require us to act quickly to ensure that in the face of the high transmissible Omicron variant, our essential workforce has an important added layer of protection.”

California Monday

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released the most recent statistics Monday on COVID-19 and updates on the state’s pandemic response.

Cases

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

– Unvaccinated people were 7.6 times more likely to get COVID-19 (data from Dec. 2, 2021 to Dec. 8, 2021).

– Unvaccinated people were 11.7 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 (data from Nov. 25, 2021 to Dec. 1, 2021).

– Unvaccinated people were 14.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 (data from Nov. 18, 2021 to Nov. 24, 2021).

Vaccinations

– 63,910,607 total vaccines administered.

– 78.9% of the eligible population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 167,824 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 4,990,016* confirmed cases to date.

– Monday’s average case count is 6,176* (average daily case count over 7 days).

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 5.4%* (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 4,401 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 1,041 ICU patients statewide.

Deaths

– There have been 75,461* COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 43* Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of Dec. 12 to Dec. 18, the average time patients waited for test results was one day. During this same time period, 85% of patients received test results in one day and 96% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Dec. 20, there have been 767 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.

New Updates

New Actions to Protect Californians from COVID-19

Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced new booster requirements and testing measures to better protect all Californians as the Omicron variant becomes the dominant COVID-19 strain in the nation. The COVID-19 booster requirement for health care workers will mitigate potential staffing shortages while helping to safeguard the state’s hospital capacity and protect the health and safety of Californians. Combined with the new federal policies announced yesterday, these actions will help ensure everyone in California has access to testing throughout the holiday season and that K-12 public school students can return to school safely.

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.