The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Friday confirmed 52 new deaths and 1,035 new cases of COVID-19, with a minimum of 363 cases identified to date in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Public Health has identified 18,517 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 848 deaths to date.

Forty-three people who died were over the age of 65; seven people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 to 40 years old.

Forty-two people had underlying health conditions including 34 people over the age of 65, seven people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old and one person between the ages of 18 to 40 years old. One death was reported by the city of Pasadena.

Santa Clarita Valley Update

Of the at least 363 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 297

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 21

Stevenson Ranch: 16

Castaic: 17

Acton: 8

Agua Dulce: 1 to 4

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 1 to 4

Val Verde: 1 to 4

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 1-4

Due to health privacy laws, the county does not report exact numbers of cases in communities with a population under 25,000 until there are 5 or more cases.

Henry Mayo Friday Update

Of the 561 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 110 tested positive, 454 were negative, 5 are pending and 23 patients are currently hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said Friday.

Other discrepancies in the numbers are due to some patients being tested more than once, he said.

The number of discharged COVID-19 patients is now 33, Moody said. There have been three deaths at the hospital to date.

L.A. County Demographics

Ninety percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 771 people (97 percent of the cases); 37% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 18% among Asian residents, 15% among African American residents, 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Upon further investigation, 26 cases and one death reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

As of Friday, 4,211 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (24% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. Testing capacity continues to increase in L.A. County, with testing results available for over 108,000 individuals and 15% of people testing positive.

New Restrictions, Requirements for Healthcare Facilities

A new Health Officer Order is being issued for all licensed congregate healthcare facilities. The order includes measures intended to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in these facilities and to protect vulnerable residents, as well as staff.

The measures include restricting all visitors, suspending all communal dining and activities to ensure physical distancing, screening frequent temperature checks for staff, patients and residents, and testing for all employees and residents.

Staff will be required to wear surgical masks at all times and personal protective equipment when appropriate. Residents will also need to wear surgical masks or cloth face coverings when they are outside of their personal room.

“To those of you who are grieving the loss of a loved one to COVID-19, we are deeply sorry for your loss and wish you peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“Los Angeles County has done an amazing job at following the Safer at Home Order and helping to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Ferrer said. “As we prepare for relaxing the Order in the future, we need to make sure safeguards are in place to avoid a surge in hospitalizations that will overwhelm our healthcare system, and to avoid more preventable deaths. We want to make it safe for as many people to be able to work as possible while still slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

As the L.A. County family continues planning for recovery, Public Health has identified four measures that must occur in order to modify provisions in the Safer at Home Order and safely reopen certain businesses, institutions, and public spaces. When the Safer at Home Order is relaxed, people will be around one another more and this will increase the risk and likely the rate of transmission and cases in the county. Recovery Prerequisites:

* Ensure hospitals and primary care and specialty services capacity to care for people who are ill and for those who need routine health care.

* Ensure protections for vulnerable populations – especially the elderly, people with underlying health conditions, residents in institutional settings, people experiencing homelessness, and people with poor access to needed services and supports. This includes making sure that there are enough trained staff and personal protective equipment to appropriately manage care at institutional settings.

* Ensure capacity for testing, isolating, and quarantining individuals and for surveillance to prevent the spread of infection.

* Ensure capacity to maintain maximum physical distancing and infection control at all spaces and places where people interact with each other outside of their homes.

What to Do if You Are Ill

Public Health reminds everyone that if you are ill, even with mild symptoms, please self-isolate at home for 7 days and until you are fever and symptom-free for 72 hours.

If you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is presumed to be infected with COVID-19, you must quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with that individual.

Individuals who are elderly, have underlying health conditions or are pregnant may be at higher risk of serious illness and should contact their doctor as soon as they are sick.

Best Protections

The best protection against COVID-19 is to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing (especially by staying at home) and wear a clean face covering when out in the public procuring or providing essential services.

N95 and surgical masks should only be used by healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers providing care for people who are ill.

The current Health Officer Order extends the previous Health Officer Order through May 15 and requires essential businesses to provide a cloth face covering for all employees to wear while performing duties that involve contact with other employees and or the public and to post physical distancing plans.

The public is required to wear a face covering to enter essential businesses as well.

For additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community, visit the Public Health website at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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.

Here’s the L.A. County Incident Report for Friday, April 24, 2020.

[Open .pdf in new window]