The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Monday confirmed 25 new deaths and 239 new cases of the COVID-19 disease, the smallest increase in new cases since March 26.

Over the last 48 hours, there have been 562 new cases. Eleven people who died were over the age of 65 and 12 people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Twenty-two people had underlying health conditions; one person between the ages of 41 to 65 had no reported underlying health conditions. Two deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach.

There is a minimum total of 189 confirmed cases in the Santa Clarita Valley, as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 150

Canyon Country (unincorporated area): 14

Stevenson Ranch: 11

Castaic: 9

Acton: 1-4

Agua Dulce: 1-4

Bouquet Canyon (unincorporated): 1-4

Saugus (unincorporated): 1-4

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

For health privacy reasons, the county does not release exact figures for communities with a population under 25,000 until they reach 5 cases.

To date, Public Health has identified 9,420 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 320 deaths. Eighty-five percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 262 people (82 percent of the cases); 33% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 33% among White residents, 18% among Asian residents, 14% among African American residents, and 2% among residents identifying with other races.

Upon further investigation, 11 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents.

As of Monday, 2,354 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (25% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for almost 52,000 individuals and 13% of people testing positive.

Henry Mayo Monday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed as of noon Monday of the 431 persons tested to date, 74 were positive, 352 negative, 17 are pending and 26 are currently hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, up from 17 on Friday. There have been two COVID-19-related deaths at the hospital to date, the most recent death on Sunday, Moody said.

Healthcare Workers
Healthcare workers risk their lives every day during the COVID-19 pandemic to save others. Public Health has confirmed three people that died from COVID-19 worked in a healthcare setting and 787 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have occurred among healthcare workers. One-third of these cases are among nurses and 9% among physicians. About 60% of these cases do not know or did not report how they were exposed. However, 24% of workers in these categories reported that they were exposed to COVID-19 through contact with a patient or another healthcare worker. Healthcare workers who are positive worked at 22 different settings across the county; 43% worked in hospitals, 19% worked in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities and 12% worked in outpatient settings.

“I offer our sincere condolences to each and every person who has experienced the pain associated with losing someone to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “I want to thank our frontline workers for their deep commitment to making it possible for all of us to have what we need to get through this pandemic. As we work our way together to recovery, I am mindful of the many sacrifices everyone is making. Please continue to stay safe at home and help do you part so that essential workers are safe at work.”

The current Health Officer Orders extends the previous Health Officer Order through May 15 that closed beaches, trails and trailheads and non-essential businesses, and prohibited all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit.

The enhanced Order now 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 also required to wear a face covering to enter essential businesses. The new measures for essential businesses go into effect at midnight on April 15.

Efforts to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 require that the public adhere to all the directives that limit interactions with those outside their households. The best community and individual defense against COVID-19 is to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, avoid being around sick people, practice physical distancing, especially by staying at home, and wear a 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.

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.

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

Here’s the Incident Report for Monday, April 13: