Officials from Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported an additional death Thursday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 162 since the onset of the pandemic, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

Currently, there are zero tests pending, 32 patients in the hospital, and a total of 1,462 patients who have been treated and discharged since the pandemic began.

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

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday Public Health confirms 49 new deaths and 2,218 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 34,490 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The number of new cases reported Thursday is an undercount due to missing test results from one lab. Of the 49 new deaths reported Thursday, 13 people who passed away were over the age of 80, 13 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 15 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and seven people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach. To date, Public Health identified 1,425,806 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 25,563 deaths.

There are 1,385 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 30% of these people are in the ICU. This is a decrease of 288 daily hospitalizations in one week.

Testing results are available for nearly 8,300,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Thursday’s test positivity rate is 3.4%.

School Cases

While case rates increased among children in all age groups between mid-July and mid-August, cases have declined by about 30% in all age groups among children (0-4, 5-11, and 12-17 years old) over the past two weeks. The decrease is similar to the decreases we are seeing in cases among adult residents and occurred as many schools reopened with testing, masking, infection control and outbreak management protocols in place. Over the past week, children under 18 comprised, on average, 27% of all cases seen in L.A. County.

Among L.A. County teens 12 to 17 years old, more than half of whom are vaccinated, we see just how powerfully protective the vaccines really are. As of August 28, the case rate among unvaccinated 12 to 17-year-olds was 424 cases among every 100,000 unvaccinated children in this age group compared with 51 cases among 100,000 of those vaccinated. Among groups ineligible for vaccination, the case rate was 130 per 100,000 children aged 0 to 4, and 230 per 100,000 children aged 5 to 11.

As of September 5, 62% of L.A. County residents 12 to 15 years old received at least one dose of vaccine, while 51% were fully vaccinated. Sixty-nine percent of residents 16 to 17 years old received at least one dose, and 59% were fully vaccinated.

In K-12 school settings countywide, between Aug. 15 and Sept. 7, 7,784 student cases and 1,250 staff cases were reported, with the vast majority occurring at LAUSD, which tests everyone weekly. The second highest number of cases came from other K-12 schools in L.A. County. With more than 1.5 million students and 175,000 staff countywide (by last year’s counts), 0.5% of the student body and 0.7% of staff have become infected since school districts reopened. This is slightly higher than the 0.4% rate of infection experienced overall in the County.

Many school sites (1,032 schools) are now reporting three or more cases. Five hundred and seventy school sites reported one case and 260 school sites reported two cases. As these numbers are cumulative, it is not surprising to see cases accumulate in schools. Every case identified at a school needs to isolate at home away from others for 10 days from their symptom onset or test date. Their close contacts are identified and, if unvaccinated, they are required to quarantine.

Public Health investigated eight outbreaks during the week of Aug. 22 and six last week, with most outbreaks now taking place in elementary schools. The small number of confirmed outbreaks is very low and a positive sign that mitigation efforts may be very effective at reducing transmission. Nonetheless, we anticipate an upward trend in outbreaks as more schools are open
**More from Los Angeles County Public Health further below**

William S. Hart Union High School District COVID-19 Dashboard

The William S. Hart Union High School District provides ongoing information to our community regarding COVID-19 cases while maintaining confidentiality for our students and staff. The COVID-19 case data below is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff members or students by school site. The data below is specific to individuals who have been physically present on a District campus within 14 days of receiving a positive COVID-19 test. The District, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, conducts contact tracing and directly notifies and provides resources for parents of students identified as close contacts (6 feet or less for 15 cumulative minutes or more).

Note: To see the communication process in the event of a positive COVID-19 case, visit https://www.hartdistrict.org/apps/pages/covid-19dashboard.

Student Dashboard:

Student Dashboard: The COVID-19 case data is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in students by school site.

Staff Dashboard

Staff Dashboard: The COVID-19 case data is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff by school site.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 6:00 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded two new deaths in the city of Santa Clarita, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the SCV to 322.

The following is the community breakdown of the 322 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

272 in Santa Clarita

18 in Castaic

9 in Acton

7 in Stevenson Ranch

6 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

2 in Val Verde

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

1 in Valencia

0 in Lake Hughes (**revised from 1)

SCV Cases

Of the 34,490 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 25,375

* Castaic: 4,256

Stevenson Ranch: 1,561

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,076

Acton: 662

Val Verde: 409

Agua Dulce: 373/p>

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 254

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 158

Elizabeth Lake: 98

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 70

Bouquet Canyon: 62

Lake Hughes: 49

Saugus/Canyon Country: 46

Sand Canyon: 21

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 16

Placerita Canyon: 4

*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

“To everyone who has lost a friend or loved one to COVID-19, we send you our deepest condolences,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We support the actions taken by the Los Angeles Unified School District and other schools and school districts to add an additional layer of protection at schools through a sensible school vaccine requirement for eligible students. Vaccination remains one of the quickest and most powerful ways to decrease community transmission and prevent serious illness, which helps keep students, teachers, and staff in school, and the COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and effective. Public Health will continue to work closely with school districts as they take critical actions to protect students and staff from a dangerous and highly infectious virus.”

Public Health is encouraging students and parents eager to have more information about COVID-19 and to help educate others in their communities about COVID-19 on how to create safety at school and at home, to join the Parent and Student Ambassador Programs. Parents and students who sign up will receive free training from L.A. County educators on COVID-19, support for school-based activities, and a certificate of completion at the end of the program. Orientation for the parent program will take place on September 15, 2021 from 5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m., and Public Health is accepting registrations on a rolling basis. So far, 120 parents have signed up, representing roughly 98 different schools ranging from preschool to high school. Public Health is also enrolling students for an upcoming student ambassador program orientation. More information including how to sign up for parents and students is available online or you can email TK12ambassador@ph.lacounty.gov.

Public Health has a new feature on its interactive vaccine website, VaccinateLAcounty.com, that allows people to look at the proportion of school aged residents who are vaccinated by school district. Public Health will be rolling out a school data dashboard later this month that will enable residents to easily see daily counts of cases and contacts at any school in the county.

To find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) If you don’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or you’re over 65, you can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Thursday

California Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 4,322,361 cases and 66,257 deaths to date. There are 7,511 confirmed hospitalizations and 2,009 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

There were 7,127 newly reported confirmed cases Wednesday.

Cases are occurring largely among unvaccinated populations.

– For the week of August 22 – August 28, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians age 16 or older is 80.12 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians age 16 or older is significantly lower at 10.33 per 100,000 per day.

– The great majority of new cases are among unvaccinated individuals. The rate among the unvaccinated is 7.8 times the rate among the vaccinated.

The 7-day positivity rate is 4.5%.

There have been 85,232,285 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 232,980 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of Sept. 9, according to the CDC, 81.6% of eligible Californians have received at least one dose. Providers have reported to CDPH that a total of 47,621,874 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed. For more vaccination data, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard.

Health Care Workers

As of Sept. 8, local health departments have reported 122,643 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 496 deaths statewide.

Stop the Spread: Get Vaccinated for COVID-19

The risk for COVID-19 exposure and infection continues as a number of Californians remain unvaccinated. With the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant, there is a renewed urgency to get all eligible Californians vaccinated as quickly as possible and complete their two-dose vaccination process if they are receiving Pfizer or Moderna.

CDPH is reminding unvaccinated Californians that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, free and provides excellent protection from severe COVID-19 illness, including the Delta variant, hospitalization, and death.

Individuals aged 12+ are eligible for vaccination. Visit myturn.ca.gov to make an appointment. Individuals aged 17 and younger may need the consent of a parent or legal guardian for vaccination. Visit Vaccinate All 58 to learn more about the safe and effective vaccines available.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.4 days. During this same time period, 62% of patients received test results in one day and 87% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Sept. 6, there have been 592 of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported statewide. 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.

Keep California Healthy
Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

– Get vaccinated when it’s your turn. Californians age 16+ are eligible to make an appointment.

– If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.

– If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

– Keep gatherings small and outdoors and follow state and local public health guidance.

– Wear a mask and get the most out of masking – an effective mask has both good fit and good filtration.

– Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

– Delay non-essential travel outside of California until you are fully vaccinated. Follow California’s travel advisory.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work and school if you feel ill.

– Add your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

– Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.

Additional data and udpates:

Tracking COVID-19 in California

State Dashboard – Daily COVID-19 data

County Map – Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity

Data and Tools – Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists, and the public

Blueprint for a Safer Economy– Data for establishing tier status

COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data – Weekly updated Race & Ethnicity data

Cases and Deaths by Age Group – Weekly updated Deaths by Age Group data

Health Equity Dashboard – See how COVID-19 highlights existing inequities in health

Tracking Variants – Data on the variants California is currently monitoring

Safe Schools for All Hub – Information about safe in-person instruction

School Districts Reopening Map – data on public schools and reported outbreaks

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.

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.

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.