The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 43 new deaths and 2,741 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 33,969 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

While transmission in L.A. County remains at a high level, the 7-day cumulative case rate decreased 16% from last week to 159 new cases per 100,000 residents. This is the second week in a row with small decreases in the County’s case rate. Overall, the County has seen a 22% decrease from the peak of 204 cases per 100,000 on Aug. 19.

Of the 43 new deaths reported Thursday, five people who passed away were over the age of 80, 16 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 14 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and four people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. Four deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach. To date, Public Health identified 1,412,240 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 25,364 deaths.

There are 1,673 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized, a decrease of 58 people over the past week. Testing results are available for nearly 8,164,000 individuals with 16% of people testing positive. Today’s test positivity rate is 2.9%, a slight increase from last week’s same-day rate of 2.7%. With increased routine screening testing, Public Health anticipates case numbers may increase again.

As of Aug. 29, 91% of L.A. County residents 65 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 75% of residents 16 and over and 75% of residents 12 and over. Sixty-five percent of residents 12 and over have been fully vaccinated. Sixty-two percent of L.A. County teens between the ages of 12 and 17 received at least one dose and 51% are fully vaccinated. Countywide, almost 36,000 third doses have been administered to immunocompromised people. Out of the nearly 10.3 million L.A. County residents, including those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, 64% have received at least one dose, and 56% are fully vaccinated.

Mobile Vaccination Teams

Public Health continues its strategy for improving access to vaccines by having mobile vaccination teams take vaccines to places where people are not yet vaccinated. This week, mobile teams are offering vaccines at 480 sites, many of which are concentrated in higher-need, harder hit areas. County mobile vaccine teams work to get vaccinations into neighborhood places where people gather and are eager to make vaccines easily available to you.

Ensuring vaccine access to vulnerable residents is one Public Health’s highest priorities, and the County’s in-home vaccination program offers home visits to provide vaccines to those unable to leave their homes. The County has so far vaccinated 2,000 homebound residents through this program to date, and the County is also offering additional doses for immunocompromised residents through this program. Residents who are homebound can refer themselves to this program. Caregivers, family members and loved ones, healthcare providers, organizations, and others can also make referrals. On the vaccine website, residents who are homebound can click “In-home vaccination” in the menu to submit a request, or call us at 1-833-540-0473 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. seven days a week. Public Health is able to take calls in multiple languages.

**More from Los Angeles County Public Health further below**

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital
Officials from Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported Thursday zero tests pending, 40 patients in the hospital, a total of 1,437 patients treated and discharged since the pandemic began, with no additional deaths, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

The hospital’s death toll as a result of COVID-19 stands at 160.

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.

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 members by school site.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded three total additional deaths in Santa Clarita (+1), Castaic (+1) and Stevenson Ranch (+1), bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the SCV to 318.

The following is the community breakdown of the 318 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

270 in Santa Clarita

17 in Castaic (**revised from 15. But 18 initially)

8 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 33,969 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 24,977

* Castaic: 4,231

Stevenson Ranch: 1,537

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,039

Acton: 652

Val Verde: 404

Agua Dulce: 361/p>

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 250

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 157

Elizabeth Lake: 95

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 70

Bouquet Canyon: 61

Lake Hughes: 49

Saugus/Canyon Country: 46

Sand Canyon: 20

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 friends and family during this difficult time, we are wishing you peace and comfort, and our prayers are with you.” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As we enter Labor Day weekend, many of us will have opportunities to engage in a variety of activities with friends and family, and many of us will be asking ourselves whether it’s safe for us to do the things we want to do. When making plans, think about your own personal risk and the different factors that increase the risk associated with the activities you want to do. As you assess your personal risk, remember that if you live with others, there is additional risk for each person in your household. The more sensible protections – like getting vaccinated, masking, and distancing – that you and those in your household have, the safer you are not only personally but for the benefit of those you love. Other protections might involve modifying the activity itself, like opening some windows or doors, or encouraging your friends to move a gathering outside where you can all spread out. The higher your personal risk, and the higher the risk of the activity, the more important it is to layer in additional protections before going out to enjoy all that L.A. County has to offer.”

Among the nearly 5.3 million fully vaccinated people in L.A. County, Public Health identified 37,614 people fully vaccinated who tested positive for COVID-19 as of August 31. While this is an increase of 15% from last week, less than 1% of all those vaccinated have become infected with COVID-19. Of those who tested positive, 1,049 were hospitalized, up from 881 the week prior. This translates to 0.02% of all fully vaccinated people were hospitalized. Deaths in this group over this interval increased, from 95 to 118, to 0.0022%. These small increases are evidence that the vaccines do not provide 100% protection from infection, hospitalizations, and deaths. When community transmission is high, more fully vaccinated people are likely to get infected. These numbers also show while vaccines are imperfect, people who are fully vaccinated are extremely well protected from COVID-19 related hospitalization and death.

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 4,256,244 cases and 65,585 deaths to date. There are 8,325 confirmed hospitalizations and 2,083 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

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

There were 10,194 newly reported confirmed cases Wednesday.

Cases are increasing statewide, largely among unvaccinated populations.

– For the week of Aug. 15 to Aug. 21, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians age 16 or older is 61.55 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians age 16 or older is significantly lower at 10.77 per 100,000 per day.

– The vast majority of new cases are among the unvaccinated with 571% higher case rates among the unvaccinated than for those who are vaccinated.

The 7-day positivity rate is 4.9%.

There have been 82,972,474 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 287,939 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of Sept. 2, according to the CDC, 80.8% of eligible Californians have received at least one dose. Providers have reported to CDPH that a total of 47,083,051 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. 1, local health departments have reported 121,732 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 495 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. 22 to Aug. 28, the average time patients waited for test results was one day. During this same time period, 64% of patients received test results in one day and 88% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Aug. 30, there have been 592 cases 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.