The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Friday confirmed 883 new cases of COVID-19 and 51 new deaths, with 699 cases reported to date in the Santa Clarita Valley.

As of Friday, the county is assigning confirmed COVID-19 cases from the Pitchess Detention Center and the North County Correctional Facility to Castaic.

Previously, the PDC and NCCF numbers had been misattributed to Val Verde due to a geo-location glitch, county officials said Thursday night.

Countywide, thirty-nine people who died were over the age of 65 years old, eight people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Forty-three people had underlying health conditions including 36 people over the age of 65 years old, six people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old and one person between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Two deaths were reported by the city of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health has identified 30,296 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 1,468 deaths.

Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Upon further investigation, 14 cases and one death reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

As of Friday, 5,298 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (19% 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 nearly 215,000 individuals and 12% of people testing positive.

Testing capacity continues to increase across skilled nursing facilities in L.A. County. As of Friday morning, 95 skilled nursing facilities with the support from Public Health, the county Department of Health Services and the city of Los Angeles have tested all residents and staff.

Public Health continues to schedule appointments with other skilled nursing facilities to complete testing, conduct on-site inspections and survey bed capacity, staffing capacity and availability of personal protective equipment.

Santa Clarita Valley Friday Update
Of the 699 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 463

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 28

Stevenson Ranch: 21

Acton: 8

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

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 4

Agua Dulce: 2

Elizabeth Lake 1

Henry Mayo Friday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital did not release numbers Friday because it has switched to a weekly reporting of COVID-19 cases, spokesman Patrick Moody said.

“Unless there is a development (an additional deceased), we have gone to releasing new numbers only on Wednesdays, since the situation is relatively stable now,” he said.

As of Wednesday, which was the last time numbers were released, of the 897 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 165 tested positive, 819 were negative, 30 were pending and 17 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. Fifty-five COVID-19 patients have been discharged.

The hospital has confirmed 6 deaths from COVID-19 to date.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested more than once, Moody said.

L.A. County Demographics
Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,352 people (99 percent of the cases); 39% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 18% among Asian residents, 12% among African American residents, 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. African Americans, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and people living in communities with high levels of poverty continue to have the highest rate of death per 100,000 people for COVID-19 when compared to other groups.

“This pandemic has brought heartache to many families, and to those who are grieving loved ones who have passed away from COVID-19, we are so sorry, and we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“Public Health is prioritizing closing disparities and protecting people who are at greater risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19,” Ferrer said. “As some businesses begin to slowly reopen, we need to double down on all efforts to protect those who are disproportionally affected by the virus.

“Please continue to do your part to protect yourself and others from becoming infected with COVID-19 by practicing physical distancing, wearing a cloth face covering and frequently washing your hands,” she said. “We all share in the responsibility for a safe recovery journey, so continue to work together, do our part and take care of each other.”

Roadmap to Recovery

On Wednesday, Public Health issued a five-stage roadmap to recovery that describes a phased approach to relaxing select directives of the Safer at Home Order and a reopening process for certain business sectors.

Phase two begins Friday and allows florists and some retailers to offer curbside pickup only. Car dealership showrooms can reopen with appropriate physical distancing and infection control measures. Trails and golf courses can also open, but pro shops will remain closed and everyone using them must adhere to physical distancing and use cloth face coverings.

Later next week, additional restrictions may be lifted to include other retailers, manufacturers, and recreational facilities.

The next three stages of the roadmap to recovery include the potential opening in phases to include higher-risk institutions and businesses such as movie theaters, schools, colleges and universities, followed later by conventions and spectator events, and finally to normal operations for all sectors.

Each sector will have safe reopening protocols that must be adhered to. Until the final stage five is reached.

Health Officer Orders and directives will continue to ensure that we slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities.

People who have underlying health conditions will still be 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 know to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

Interactive Dashboard

An interactive dashboard is available that provides an overview on COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths along with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity. Visit Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard here.

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 Public Health Incident Report for Friday, May 8, 2020:

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