Another resident of the city of Santa Clarita has died due to COVID-19, the city’s 26th fatality and the 33rd in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Almost 50% of new cases occur among younger people with the most significant increase in the percentage of cases among residents between 18 and 40 years old, Public Health also reported Monday.

Hospitalizations for individuals between 18 and 40 years old have also increased from a little over 10% of hospitalized cases in April to about 25% in July.

There are 1,921 people with confirmed COVID-19 cases currently hospitalized, 28% of them in the ICU and 18% on ventilators.

Public Health on Monday confirmed 1,584 new cases of COVID-19 and 48 new deaths due to the virus countywide.

A total of 3,404 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in the SCV since the pandemic began, including 1,345 in the city of Santa Clarita.

According to Public Health records, of the 33 SCV residents who have died of the virus to date, 26 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 2 in Acton, 2 in Castaic, 1 in Val Verde, 1 in unincorporated Valencia, and 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon.

Countywide, Public Health has reported 116,570 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 3,534 deaths to date. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

“Many families are experiencing the profound grief of losing a loved one to COVID-19. We are so sorry for your loss, and wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

Statewide, as of July 5, the California Department of Public Health has confirmed a total of 271,684 cases (5,699 for July 5, plus 3,187 L.A. County cases for July 4 and another 2,643 L.A. County cases for July 3) and 6,337 deaths from COVID-19.

L.A. County’s backlog is due to its three-day data processing upgrade leading into the July 4th weekend.

Currently, there are 5,790 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,706 ICU hospitalizations in California.

As of July 5, local health departments have reported 16,175 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 94 deaths statewide.

California’s positivity rate – a key indicator of community spread – is trending upward in the 14-day average. Hospitalization rates are also trending upward in the 14-day average.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update
Of the 3,374 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 1,345

Castaic: 1,799 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 76

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 50

Val Verde: 33

Acton: 29

Agua Dulce: 14

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 13

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 6

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 3

Bouquet Canyon: 1

Lake Hughes: 1

*Note: The county is unable to break out separate numbers for Castaic and PDC/NCCF because the county uses geotagging software that cannot be changed at this time, according to officials. Click here for the LASD COVID-19 dashboard.

Henry Mayo Monday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 14th COVID-related death on Wednesday, July 1, a person who died over the previous weekend, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

The person was a resident of the city of Santa Clarita, bringing the city’s total to 25 fatalities and the SCV’s to 32 due to the virus, according to Public Health records.

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.

As of Wednesday, July 1, of the 3,273 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 349 tested positive, 3,214 were negative, 151 were pending and 19 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, six more than reported last Wednesday. A total of 110 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested multiple times. “Often a single patient is tested more than once,” Moody said.

L.A. County Demographics, Testing
Thirty-three people who died were over 65 years old, 13 people who died were between 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between 18 and 40 years old. Forty-one people had underlying health conditions including 28 people over 65 years old, 12 people between 41 to 65 years old, and one person between 18 and 40 years old. One death was reported by the city of Pasadena.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 3,283 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 44% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 27% among White residents, 16% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

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

Testing results are available for nearly 1,199,000 individuals, with 9% of people testing positive. The 7-day average of the daily positivity rate is 9.5%.

USC Study: Social Distancing Down, Cases Up
The Understanding America Study administered by USC’s Dornsife Center reports that 55.2% of L.A. County residents had close contact (within 6 feet) with people who do not live with them in the last 7 days. This is an increase from the 30.5% reported from April 8-14.

“Our ability to follow the most basic infection control and distancing directives reduces serious illness, and even death of the people we love, and the death of those loved by others,” Ferrer said. “What we do now determines where we are in 3-4 weeks. The sooner we all recommit to taking care of each other, the sooner we create a new normal, where we get back to work, school, and our friends and extended family.”

Public Health urges everyone to avoid the Three C’s: Crowded places, Confined spaces and Close contact with others not in your household. Everyone should always wear a face covering securely over your nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out in public. Businesses must continue to follow Public Health directives. Public Health reminds everyone that you remain safer at home.

“Thank you to the businesses and individuals that are working so hard to adhere to the protocols we have laid out, which are now more important than ever,” Ferrer said.

Throughout our re-opening journey, we have said that the number of cases will increase as more people are out of their homes and around other people. The risk of asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 still exists. You can be infected with #COVID19, show no symptoms and infect each other.

Keep protecting yourself and your loved ones by wearing a face covering when you’re with people not from your household and keep at least 6ft of distance. It is crucial that we continue to slow the spread.

Toxic Sanitizer Alert
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory warning everyone to not use any hand sanitizer manufactured by Eskbiochem SA de CV in Mexico, due to the potential presence of methanol, a toxic alcohol, as an active ingredient, which can cause blindness and/or death when absorbed through the skin or when swallowed.

Most commercially available alcohol-based hand sanitizers or rubs contain either ethanol or isopropanol as active ingredients and are safe to use.

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.

Everyone must always wear a face covering securely over your nose and mouth and keep six feet apart from others not in your household when out and about. Businesses must continue to follow Public Health directives. It is the collective responsibility shared between everyone including businesses and residents to slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities and save lives.

L.A. County Public Health’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.

Here’s the L.A. County COVID incident update for Monday, July 6:

[Open .pdf in new window]

California Testing
As of July 5, there have been 4,793,353 tests conducted in California and reported to the California Department of Public Health. This represents an increase of 113,215 tests over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

Due to the state’s dramatic increase in testing capacity and growing demand for tests, laboratories and local public health departments are processing and verifying more test results than ever. As a result, the reporting of some test results has been delayed and previously reported case numbers may sometimes be updated retroactively.

As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, an increase in the number of positive cases has been expected – increasing the importance of positivity rates to find signs of community spread.

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.

California Demographics
California Public Health is committed to health equity and collecting more detailed racial and ethnic data that will provide additional understanding for determining future action.

Health outcomes are affected by forces including structural racism, poverty and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African American Californians. Only by looking at the full picture can we understand how to ensure the best outcomes for all Californians.

The differences in health outcomes related to COVID-19 are most stark in COVID-19 deaths. We have nearly complete data on race and ethnicity for COVID-19 deaths, and we are seeing the following trends. 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 more than one-and-a-half times their population representation across all adult age categories. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but almost double 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.

Protect Yourself and Your Family
Every person has a role to play. Protecting yourself and your family comes down to common sense:

* Staying home except for essential needs/activities following local and state public health guidelines when patronizing approved businesses. To the extent that sectors are re-opened, Californians may leave their homes to work at, patronize, or otherwise engage with those businesses, establishments or activities.

* Practicing social distancing.

* Wearing a cloth face mask when out in public.

* Washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.

* Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.

* Covering a cough or sneeze with your sleeve, or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward.

* Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

* Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.

* Following guidance from public health officials.

What to Do if You Think You’re Sick
Call ahead: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath), call your health care provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken. More than 85 community testing sites also offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

California COVID-19 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.

For more information about what Californians can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) in California.

Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.

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.