The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has confirmed 31 new deaths and 323 new cases of the COVID-19 disease. Over the last 48 hours, there have been 779 new cases. Twenty-five people who died were over the age of 65 and six people were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Sixty-five percent of the people who died had underlying health conditions.

There is a minimum total of 186 confirmed cases in the Santa Clarita Valley, as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 143

Canyon Country (unincorporated area): 14

Stevenson Ranch: 11

Castaic: 9

Acton: 5

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, L.A. County Public Health has identified 9,192 postive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of the county, and a total of 296 deaths. Eighty-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 240 people (85 percent of the cases); 33% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 32% among White residents, 19% among Asian residents, 14% among African American residents, and 2% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, four cases reported earlier were not LA County residents. As of today, 2,246 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 LA County, with testing results available for over 47,000 individuals and 14% of people testing positive.

A new Health Officer Order issued last Friday extends the previous Health Officer Order through May 15, 2020. All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit remain prohibited. Beaches, trails and trailheads and non-essential businesses remain closed. The Order also requires essential businesses to provide a cloth face covering for all their employees to wear while performing duties that involve contact with other employees and or the public and to post their physical distancing plans. The public is also required to wear a face covering to enter essential businesses. 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 new measures for essential businesses go into effect at midnight on April 15.

“As many Angelenos celebrate the Easter holiday today, I want to acknowledge those families that are grieving the loss of a loved one associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. My thoughts and prayers are with all those who are experiencing loss, illness, and distress today,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “I also want to thank everyone for continuing to do their part to help suppress this virus; please stay at home whenever possible and when you go out in public, wear a cloth face covering.”

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.

Additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.