The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Saturday 1,032 new cases of COVID-19 and 41 new deaths due to the virus countywide, with a total of 1,063 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

The county reported 29 new COVID-19 cases in the SCV, but no new deaths. To date, 18 people have died of the virus in the valley (15 in Santa Clarita, 1 in Acton, 1 in Castaic, and 1 in a community not yet named).

California has 90,631 confirmed cases and 3,708 deaths from COVID-19 as of May 22, with 3,024 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,079 ICU hospitalizations.

Santa Clarita Valley Saturday Update
Of the 1,063 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 648

Castaic: 301 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility)

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 35

Stevenson Ranch: 30

Val Verde: 17

Acton: 11

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 7

Agua Dulce: 6

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 4

Elizabeth Lake 3

Lake Hughes 1

Henry Mayo Saturday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall 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, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

As of Wednesday, May 20, of the 1,332 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 197 tested positive, 1,245 were negative, 35 were pending and 14 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. A total of 68 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.

Eight of the SCV’s 18 fatalities to date have occurred at Henry Mayo, Moody confirmed Monday.

L.A. County Demographics
Countywide, 31 people who died were over the age of 65 years old and eight people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Twenty-eight people had underlying health conditions including 23 people over the age of 65 years old and five people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,929 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health) 39% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 29% 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, 29 cases reported earlier were not L.A. County residents. As of today, 6,159 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (14% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,491 people who are currently hospitalized, 26% of these people are in the ICU and 18% are on ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for over 436,000 individuals and nearly 9% of people testing positive.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with those families and friends mourning the loss of their loved ones,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are acutely aware of the need to continue to take steps that reduce the spread of COVID-19 during our recovery journey. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, our data points to steady declines in hospitalizations, deaths, and the percent of people testing positive. For example, the percent of people tested who are positive in L.A. County is now at an all time low of 8.5%; in comparison, New York City’s positivity rate is currently 28%. The increase we see in our number of cases is because we have increased the number of people we are testing, and this is a good thing. We are testing more people per capita in L.A. County than the state of California, the state of Washington, the state of Georgia, the United States, and Seattle King-County. Our increased testing capacity allows for quicker identification, treatment, and isolation of people who are positive for COVID-19 and their close contacts; this helps reduce the spread of the virus.”

A new Health Officer Order issued Friday replaced the previous Health Officer Order and allows for the reopening of beach bike paths and parking lots, indoor mall curbside service, and select vehicle parades. Retailers remain closed to public entry along with beach piers, and public and private gatherings of any number of people outside of a single household unit are still not permitted. The Health Officer Order also continues to require specific higher-risk businesses to remain closed and prohibit dining in at restaurants. Restaurants are still allowed to serve food to customer via delivery, take-out or drive-thru. Everyone must continue to follow distancing and infection control protocols, stay at least six feet apart and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household.

Because there is a 14-day incubation period for COVID-19, the actions everyone takes today will impact where numbers are in two or three weeks. 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, and to 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.

L.A. County is in stage two of the five-stage Roadmap to Recovery and until the final stage five is reached, Health Officer Orders and directives will continue to ensure that we slow spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities. The Health Officer Order, 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.

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.

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

California continues to issue guidance on preparing and protecting California from COVID-19. Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.