The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Monday confirmed 24 new deaths and 733 new cases of COVID-19, including two new deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley, bringing the SCV total to 5,662 confirmed cases and 56 deaths.

The SCV’s latest COVID fatalities were residents of the city of Santa Clarita and Castaic.

The lower number of cases reported Monday reflects a weekend reporting lag and reduced testing due to poor air quality.

To date, Public Health has identified 254,656 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 6,231 deaths.

There are 775 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, 35% of them in the ICU. Throughout this pandemic, thousands of people have had long hospital stays and many more have become sick and may still be feeling the effects of their sickness weeks or even months later.

Test results are available for more than 2,459,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive.

“Tens of thousands of people are facing a future without someone they love because that person has passed away from COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Our hearts go out to all of you who are grieving, and again we are so sorry for your loss.”

California Monday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Sunday, September 13, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 757,778 COVID-19 cases (up 2,855), with 14,385 deaths from the disease (up 56).

There are 2,841 confirmed hospitalizations and 824 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing a downward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 3.5% and the 14-day positivity rate is 3.7%.

As of September 13, local health departments have reported 35,483 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 167 deaths statewide.

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

COVID Around the World: USA the Chart-Topper in Cases and Deaths
Worldwide, 29,136,553 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 925,820 people have died as of 1:28 Monday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Since the pandemic began, more than 6,545,948 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while the number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 194,367.

The United States has the world’s highest numbers of cases and deaths. By comparison, India, which surged past Brazil to take the No. 2 spot in cases over Labor Day Weekend, had confirmed 4,846,427 million cases and 79,722 deaths as of Monday afternoon. Brazil still has the second-highest death toll at 131,625.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update

As of the latest update at 8 p.m. Saturday, September 12, the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 data dashboard confirmed another two SCV residents had died, one in the city of Santa Clarita and one in Castaic, bringing the SCV’s total of deaths to 56 since the pandemic began.

Of the people who died, 45 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 4 in Castaic, 2 in Acton, 2 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 5,662 cases reported to Public Health among SCV residents to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 3,208

Castaic: 1,922 (most from Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 156

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 122

Val Verde: 67

Acton: 65

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 42

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 27

Agua Dulce: 25

Elizabeth Lake: 7

Bouquet Canyon: 6

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 6

Sand Canyon: 6

Lake Hughes: 2

Saugus/Canyon Country: 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 Memorial Hospital on Monday, August 31 reported its 22nd death since the pandemic began, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

Henry Mayo now releases statistics weekly, on Wednesdays, unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a COVID-related death has been confirmed.

As of Wednesday, September 9, of the 7,309 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 817 tested positive, 8,332 were negative, 15 were pending, 12 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (two more than the previous Wednesday), and a total of 234 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far. COVID-19 fatalities at Henry Mayo stand at 22, Moody said.

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

The Ripple Effect & Slowing the Spread in L.A. County

Actions that increase transmission and actions that decrease transmission of COVID-19 have a ripple effect among all L.A. County residents. As a result of the Safer at Home Order, when people were asked to stay home unless they needed to access essential services and when schools and many businesses were closed for in-person services, the number of cases remained fairly steady at 1,000 or less new cases per day.

As recreational activities and businesses reopened, starting May 8, and as people were exposed to more non-household members when out, whether at work, while shopping, while protesting, and/or while celebrating Memorial Day and Independence Day, the county saw cases, and as a result hospitalizations and deaths, increase and spike in an alarming manner in mid-July.

After re-closing some businesses, and moving other business operations outdoors, the county’s case numbers decreased significantly, and we are back to consistently slowing the spread.

“Slowing the spread of the virus has required us to work together in ways that we really haven’t needed to do before – from our government agencies to our community organizations and institutions, from our businesses to each and every resident in our community – so many have taken and continue to take actions to protect themselves and to protect other people,” Ferrer said.

“This pandemic is frustrating and heartbreaking – and not the least of it is that we desperately want to go back to living our lives the way they were before,” she said.

“Unfortunately, as we have already experienced, doing so creates illness and devastation for many, including people who are very vulnerable,” Ferrer said. “For this reason, I am extraordinarily grateful to everyone that is doing what is right during a pandemic and being part of the solution to drive down transmission so that we can get children back to schools and people back to work.”

Testing Capacity High; Who Should Get Tested?

Testing capacity across the county remains high. Public Health encourages residents to get tested if:

* You are having symptoms of COVID-19.

* If you have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for the virus.

* If you think there is a chance you were exposed to COVID-19 because you were working, especially in essential services, in a place where you are frequently exposed to other people.

* If you live in a place where you share living spaces with other people who may be positive for COVID-19.

* If you have been in a crowd or gathering where people were close together and not wearing face coverings and/or keeping their distance. By finding out if you are positive, even if you have no symptoms yet, you can quickly isolate and prevent other people from becoming infected.

L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 24 new deaths reported Monday, nine people who died were over the age of 80 years old, five people were between 65 and 79 years old and 10 people were between 50 and 64 years old.

Eighteen people who died had underlying health conditions including six people over 80, four people between 65 and 79 years old, and eight people between 50 and 64 years old.

Countywide, 92% of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Upon further investigation, 62 cases and one death reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4 3980

* 5 to 11 8644

* 12 to 17 10702

* 18 to 29 58861

* 30 to 49 82688

* 50 to 64 46523

* 65 to 79 18483

* over 80 8670

* Under Investigation 1459

L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 5,859 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 51% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 15% 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.

Data continue to show African American/Black, Latino/Latinx, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander residents and those in low-income communities continue to have disproportionate health outcomes.

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 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

There have been 12,806,189 tests conducted in California, an increase of 116,173 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

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

New Testing Turnaround Time Dashboard

CDPH has posted a new dashboard reporting 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 August 23 to August 29, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.3 days. During this same time period, 66 percent of patients received test results in 1 day and 88 percent received them within two days.

The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

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 September 7, there have been 73 cases of MIS-C reported statewide, an increase of 16 over the previous week, and 10 the week before that.

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, to 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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