The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Monday 978 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 new deaths due to the virus countywide, and a total of 1,602 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began, 55 more than reported Sunday.

In the SCV, 20 people have died of the virus to date — 15 resided in the city of Santa Clarita, 1 in Acton, 1 in Castaic, 1 in unincorporated Valencia and 2 in communities not yet named.

Countywide, Public Health has reported 55,968 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 2,384 deaths as of Monday.

Ninety-three percent of people who died in L.A. County had underlying health conditions.

Statewide, California had 113,006 total confirmed cases and 4,251 deaths from COVID-19 as of May 31. There were 2,973 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,053 ICU hospitalizations.

Local health departments have reported 10,083 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 60 deaths statewide as of May 31.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update
Of the 1,602 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 772

Castaic: 693 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility)

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 39

Stevenson Ranch: 34

Val Verde: 25

Acton: 11

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 9

Agua Dulce: 9

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 4

Elizabeth Lake: 3

Bouquet Canyon: 1

Lake Hughes: 1

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 1

Henry Mayo Monday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 9th and 10th COVID-related deaths on Wednesday, May 27, both occurring in the preceding 36 hours, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

As of Wednesday, of the 1,555 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 208 tested positive, 1,289 were negative, 42 were pending and 9 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. A total of 73 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far.

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

Ten of the SCV’s 20 fatalities to date have occurred at Henry Mayo, Moody confirmed Wednesday.

The hospital is now releasing numbers on a weekly basis (Wednesdays), unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a death has been confirmed, Moody said.

L.A. County Demographics
Sixteen people who died were over the age of 65 years old and six people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old. Twenty-one people had underlying health conditions including 15 people over the age of 65 years old and six people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 2,200 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health) 41% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 12% among African American residents, 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Upon further investigation, six cases reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

L.A. County Testing
As of Monday, 6,528 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (12% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,357 people who are currently hospitalized, 28% of these people are in the ICU and 18% are on ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in L.A. County, with testing results available for nearly 612,000 individuals and 8% of people testing positive.

Healthcare Workers
Public Health continues tracking the number of positive cases and deaths among healthcare workers related to the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Public Health has confirmed 39 people who died from COVID-19 worked in a healthcare setting; 27 people who died worked in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, six people worked in hospitals, one person worked in a correctional facility, one person worked in home health, one person worked in a laboratory, and one person worked in an outpatient facility. For one health care worker who passed away, their workplace setting is not specified.

A total of 5,398 confirmed cases of COVID-19 occurred among healthcare workers and first responders; this is an additional 537 new cases reported since the previous week.

Six percent of healthcare workers with COVID-19 have been hospitalized. Forty-five percent of cases are among nurses, though cases have been identified among a range of occupational roles, including caregivers, people who work in administration, physicians and medical assistants. Sixty percent of these cases reported a known source of exposure, and 79% of healthcare workers with known exposure reported being exposed in a healthcare facility.

Healthcare workers who are positive worked at 26 different occupational settings, with the vast majority of cases among healthcare workers from skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.

“This is a very difficult time in our communities, and there are many people who are experiencing the profound sorrow of loved ones who have passed away from COVID-19. We are deeply sorry for your loss. Please know we think of you every day,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“We join the many voices who are coming together in anger, frustration and protest around the murder of George Floyd,” Ferrer said. “Coming together to demand justice is critically important, but we ask that, while you are out with others, please wear cloth face coverings, and practice physical distancing. Let’s work together to prevent our peaceful protests from resulting in more transmission of COVID-19. Please care for and protect the people around you.”

Public Health supports the need for L.A. County residents to exercise their first amendment rights. There is, however, risk that these gatherings can become super-spreader events where a great deal of transmission of the COVID-19 virus can occur. Everyone engaging in peaceful protest should always wear a face-covering over their nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household.

Current Health Officer Order
The current Health Officer Order, “Safer at Work and in the Community,” allows for in-person dining at restaurants and hair salons to reopen once the establishments are able to implement the required distancing and infection control directives.

The Health Officer Order specifically requires businesses to follow the COVID-19 infection control protocols. As such, restaurant and hair salon owners and operators must complete and implement these protocols prior to reopening.

Brewpubs, breweries, bars, pubs, craft distilleries, and wineries that do not offer sit-down, dine-in meals are still required to remain closed. Higher-risk businesses remain closed.

Best Protections
The best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household.

People who have underlying health conditions remain 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 call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

The county’s Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Demographics
Overall, for adults 18 and older, Latinos, African Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are dying at disproportionately higher levels. The proportion of COVID-19 deaths in African Americans is about double their population representation across all adult age categories.

For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but there is nearly a four-fold difference between the proportion of COVID-19 deaths and their population representation. More males are dying from COVID-19 than females, in line with national trends.

More information is available at COVID-19 Race and Ethnicity Data.

Testing in California
As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, the California Department of Public Health is working to expand access to COVID-19 testing. Testing should be used for medical evaluation of persons with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as for efforts by public health agencies and essential employers to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

As of June 1, there have been 2,012,583 tests conducted in California and reported to the California Department of Public Health. This represents an increase of 67,735 tests over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

These numbers include data from commercial, private and academic labs, including Quest, LabCorp, Kaiser, University of California and Stanford, and the the 25 state and county health labs currently testing.

More than 85 community testing sites also offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

New Data Portal
The state has launched a new, user-friendly data portal at COVID-19 Statewide Update that tracks COVID-19 cases statewide and by county, gender, age and ethnicity. The portal also outlines statewide hospitalizations and testing efforts. The data presented on the portal will be updated daily and will include additional information as it is available.