As COVID-19 cases surge and hospitalizations continue to rise here and across California, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health urges everyone to take immediate action to slow the spread.

Public Health officials on Monday urged residents to stay home as much as possible for the next two to three weeks except for accessing essential services.

The department on Monday reported 6 new deaths and 2,795 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 countywide, following 6,841 new cases for Saturday (3,780) and Sunday (3,061).

Of the new cases reported Saturday through Monday, 260 were from the Santa Clarita Valley, and 194 of those were from the city of Santa Clarita.

L.A. County has not experienced daily numbers like those since late July when the last surge resulted in many people becoming very seriously ill and losing their lives to COVID-19, Public Health officials said.

The SCV has now tallied 8,351 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 80 deaths from the virus since March 11, when the World Health Organization declared the pandemic.

To date, Public Health has counted 7,275 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 342,343 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. county. Upon further investigation, 12 cases reported earlier were not county residents.

“Reporting these numbers is devastating because they represent real people who are no longer with us, and we are thinking of every family member and friend who are grieving these people. We are so sorry for your loss,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

There are 1,049 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide; 28% of the patients are in the ICU.

Monday’s tally is the highest number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 each day since the beginning of September and the second day in a row the daily number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 exceeded 1,000.

See more L.A. County updates later in this report.

California Monday Snapshot

With COVID-19 cases spiking more than 50% in the last 10 days, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday pulled the “emergency brake” on counties’ reopening efforts effective immediately and said the state is prepping emergency hospitals to deal with the surge.

It is clear that statewide and in L.A. County, the numbers are alarming. Many California counties have moved back to Tier 1, the most restrictive tier. L.A. County’s adjusted case rate has nearly doubled, from 7.6 per 100,000 people last week to 13.7 per 100,000 people this week. The county’s overall test positivity rate increased from 3.8% to 5.3%.

Statewide, as of Sunday, November 15, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 1,029,235 COVID-19 cases (up 9,890), with 18,263 deaths from the disease (up 10).

There are 3,852 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,031 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing an upward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 5.0% and the 14-day positivity rate is 4.6%, continuing a sharp upward trend.

As case numbers continue to rise statewide, the number of patients who will have serious outcomes will also increase.

As of November 15, local health departments have reported 47,667 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 211 deaths statewide.

There have been 21,068,894 tests COVID-19 tests conducted in California, an increase of 202,109 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results include cases from prior to yesterday.

See more California info later in this report.

Screencap from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 dashboard, showing COVID cases in the United States as of Friday afternoon, November 13, 2020.

COVID Worldwide: Nearly 55 Million People Infected; U.S. Deaths Near 250,000

Worldwide, 54,750,781 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 1,322,020 people have died of the virus as of 12:28 p.m. Monday Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

After two weeks of record-setting daily new cases, more than 11,147,299 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Hospitalizations are at record levels. The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 246,854.

With 4.25% of the world’s population (328.2 million) and more than 20% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, the U.S. also continues to lead the world in deaths.

By comparison, Brazil (population 209.5 million) is No. 2 in deaths with 165,798. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 8,845,127 confirmed cases and 130,070 deaths as of Monday afternoon.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Monday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital on Wednesday, November 11 reported its 34th and 35th deaths due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

Privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing the community of residence for patients who die; that info is reported by the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, which is generally 48 hours behind.

As of Friday, November 13, of the 10,786 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 1,104 tested positive, 13,009 were negative, 4 were pending, 21 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (eight more than last week), a total of 321 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far, Moody said.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers at the hospital are due to some patients being tested multiple times.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, November 14, the latest update to its COVID-19 data dashboard, L.A. County Public Health reported 80 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

Of those 80 SCV residents who have died, 65 lived in Santa Clarita, 6 in Castaic, 3 in Acton, 3 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 8,351 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 5,194

Castaic: 2,269 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 247

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 192

Val Verde: 112

Acton: 99

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 57

Agua Dulce: 54

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 44

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 30

Saugus/Canyon Country: 12

Bouquet Canyon: 11

Elizabeth Lake: 10

Sand Canyon: 7

Lake Hughes: 9

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 3

*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.

L.A. County ‘At a Dangerous Point’

“Given our recent huge increases in daily cases and now hospitalizations, it is clear that L.A. County is at a very dangerous point in the pandemic,” said L.A. County Public Health’s Barbara Ferrer.

It is important for everyone in L.A. County, businesses and residents, to return to the mindset we had earlier in the pandemic where we followed the rules.

Residents are asked to take the following immediate actions:

* Re-think your holiday plans and cancel any plans for travel outside the region in the coming weeks.

* If you have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with others who are not in your household, please make sure you will celebrate outdoors with only two other households.

If you need to be indoors, this can only happen with members of your immediate household. This is particularly important since people will need to take off their face coverings while eating and drinking.

* Stay home as much as possible for the next two to three weeks except for accessing essential services. This is especially important for people who are older and people with serious underlying health conditions.

When possible, try to use delivery services for groceries and medicines. If this isn’t possible, assign one person from your household to take care of errands and shopping.

* If you live with people that are older or have serious health conditions, wear masks and keep your distance both indoors and outdoors as much as possible.

* Higher-risk household members should try when possible to eat by themselves and particularly avoid being in close contact with other people who have possible exposures at their jobs or in the community.

* If you are positive or a close contact of someone who is positive, please follow the Public Health Orders to isolate or quarantine for the full amount of time; 10 days for isolating if you are positive and 14 days if you need to quarantine.

* If you have engaged in risky activities where you may have been exposed because you were in a crowd with people who weren’t wearing masks and distancing, please self-quarantine for 14 days.

Businesses can also step up by doing the following:

* Follow all safety protocols closely and ensure adherence with masking, infection control and distancing requirements.

* Make sure there are no crowded places or spaces at your site, and limit occupancy to make sure that everyone can always distance at least six feet.

* Allow as many employees to work from home as much as possible.

* Call Public Health immediately if there have been three or more cases within 14 days at your worksite at 888-397-3993.

“I ask every resident and business across the county to put slowing the spread of COVID-19 at the very top of mind, all day and every day,” Ferrer said. “There is no path forward for our recovery until we get this pandemic back under control. A surge like the one we are experiencing is not inevitable because the weather is colder, or we are fatigued.

“Every single day, health care workers and essential workers at grocery stores, driving our buses and working in factories and farms, go to work so we can get through this pandemic with enough to eat, clothes to wear, and care when we fall sick,” Ferrer said. “We need to honor and thank all our essential workers by not getting infected and passing on the virus to others. There is light at the end of the tunnel with positive news about vaccines. We need to hang in together, make sure our actions are informed by science and take care of each other.”

Testing is NOT Prevention

Test results are available for more than 3,410,000 county residents, with 9% of all people testing positive.

While testing is essential to identifying people who are positive for COVID-19, being tested, even frequently, in no way prevents you from becoming infected, or protects others from you if you are an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.

It only provides you information about one moment in time and does not mean you will not become positive for the virus the next day or week.

Wearing face coverings over both your nose and mouth, distancing from other people outside your household, hand washing, and avoiding crowds are the most important prevention tools for us to use right now.

More L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the six new deaths reported today, three people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old and three people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old.

Five people who died had underlying health conditions including two people over the age of 80 and three people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old.

Ninety-three percent of the people who have died from COVID-19 to date had underlying health conditions. Hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes are the most common underlying health conditions among people hospitalized with COVID-19. Many people have multiple underlying health conditions.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)
When compared to other age groups, residents 80 years old and older are bearing the largest burden of serious illness.

This is most unfortunate and serves as a stark reminder that young people are driving the surge of the virus’s spread with disastrous results for our elderly.

In the last month, the case rate for residents age 18 to 29 years old has more than doubled, from 11.5 cases per 100,000 people to 25 cases per 100,000 people.

The second-highest group, residents ages 30 through 49 years old, has nearly doubled from 9.4 cases to 18 cases per 100,000 people.

* 0 to 4 5894

* 5 to 11 12672

* 12 to 17 15585

* 18 to 29 81109

* 30 to 49 110952

* 50 to 64 61914

* 65 to 79 24291

* over 80 10565

* Under Investigation 2078

More L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,864 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 52% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 14% among Asian residents, 10% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Additionally, Pacific Islanders, Latino/Latinx residents and African American/Black residents consistently have the highest rate of hospitalizations across age groups. While we made progress narrowing the gaps, as cases surge, we are beginning to see higher rates of disproportionality.

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.

California Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Governor Gavin Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.

Californians can go to covid19.ca.gov to find out where their county falls and what activities are allowable in each county.

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

The testing turnaround dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. California has worked to reduce testing turnaround times in recent weeks to help curb the spread of the virus.

During the week of November 1 to November 7, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.3 days. During this same time period, 63 percent of patients received test results in 1 day and 89 percent received them within 2 days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

All four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020, will have equal priority for testing.

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 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.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

Each week, the California Department of Public Health updates the number of cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported in the state.

As of November 9, 127 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, one more than the previous week.

To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, CDPH is not providing total counts at this time.

MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life-threatening.

Parents should be aware of the signs and symptoms of MIS-C including fever that does not go away, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes or feeling tired.

Contact your child’s doctor immediately if your child has these symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment of patients are critical to preventing long-term complications.

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.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

California COVID-19 Data and Tools

A wide range of data and analysis guides California’s response to COVID-19. The state is making the data and its analytical tools available to researchers, scientists and the public at covid19.ca.gov.

* The Statewide COVID-19 Dashboard

* The California COVID-19 Assessment Tool (CalCAT)

* State Cases and Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Age Group

* COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data

* COVID-19 Hospital Data and Case Statistics

* View additional datasets at the California Open Data Portal (including Testing Data, PPE Logistics Data, Hospital Data, Homeless Impact and more)

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

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Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus (COVID-19):

* Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

* California Department of Public Health

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

* Spanish

* World Health Organization

* Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard

L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1.

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