The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 25 new deaths and 2,065 new cases of COVID-19, including 7,595 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley to date.

Thursday’s number of new cases surpasses Wednesday’s and is the highest number of new cases not associated with backlog cases reported since late-August.

To date, Public Health identified 315,564 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 7,140 deaths.

As COVID-19 spread continues increasing in Los Angeles County, the number of COVID-19 workplace outbreaks has also increased. During the two-week period of Sept. 6 – Sept. 19, there were 23 outbreaks in non-healthcare and non-residential workplaces, the lowest number of worksite outbreaks since June. During the two-week period from Oct. 4 – Oct. 17, the number of worksite outbreaks increased to 40.

Public Health is carefully tracking outbreaks at worksites and continues to assist sectors with the required business protocol compliance and safety measures. During an outbreak, health inspectors assess the worksite and provide guidance to control the outbreak. At times, this may include requiring a business to close until required measures are in place to prevent the virus from spreading. Worker protections and safe workplaces are a crucial part of slowing the spread of COIVD-19 and protecting the health of our communities.

Workers and employers can anonymously report to Public Health clusters of COVID-19 cases at worksites as well as violations of Health Officer Orders and Protocols in the workplace. They can call the Environmental Health Customer Call Center at 888-700-9995, Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., excluding holidays. A complaint system to report violations is also available online at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

There are 825 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 29% of these people are in the ICU. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has slightly increased to over 800 in the last two days. Since mid-September, the daily number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 held steady under 800 people hospitalized.

California Thursday Snapshot
Statewide, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 944,576, with 17,815 deaths from the disease. There are 2,712 confirmed hospitalizations and 814 ICU hospitalizations in California.

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

There were 4,566 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday. Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results include cases from prior to yesterday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 3.4% and the 14-day positivity rate is 3.3%.

There have been 19,266,363 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 85,351 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase.

New Testing Turnaround Time Dashboard
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 Oct. 18 – Oct. 24, 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 90 percent received them within 2 days.The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

As of Sept. 23, 2020, California’s testing capacity and turnaround time have improved. As a result and until further notice, all four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020 will have equal priority for testing.

Health Care Worker Infection Rates
As of Nov. 4, local health departments have reported 45,260 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 206 deaths statewide.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard, reports 76 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley from COVID-19. Of the 76 SCV residents who have died since the pandemic began, 63 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 4 in Castaic, 3 in Acton, 3 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 7,595 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 4,604

Castaic: 2,211 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 207

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 177

Val Verde: 106

Acton: 87

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 53

Agua Dulce: 40

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 39

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 27

Saugus/Canyon Country: 11

Bouquet Canyon: 10

Elizabeth Lake: 9

Sand Canyon: 7

Lake Hughes: 6

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 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 Thursday Update
As of Thursday, of the 10,527 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 1,065 tested positive, 12,635 were negative, 34 were pending, 13 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care, a total of 315 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far, with number of deceased remaining at 32, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

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

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

L.A. County

“The number of deaths we have seen due to COVID-19 across our County is devastating. To everyone mourning a loved one who passed away from COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We need to remain vigilant knowing that if cases continue to increase, we will likely see more hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks. The increases of COVID-19 cases at worksites is a reminder that transmission happens at many settings and in every situation, infected people spread this virus wherever appropriate protections are not in place. If you are infected, you could unknowingly spread the disease to many others, including those who have underlying health conditions that increases their vulnerability for serious illness and death.”

African American/Black and Latino/Latinx residents and those who live in high poverty areas have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. With the recent rise in cases, we are seeing a widening of the gap between Latino/Latinx residents and other groups. Average daily cases among Latino/Latinx residents is now over twice that of African American/Black residents and White residents, and Latino/Latinx overall, are experiencing a slightly steeper increase of infection than other groups.

L.A. County continues to see decreases and stabilizing in the numbers of deaths across all race and ethnicity groups.

During the July and August peak, the mortality rate among Latino/Latinx residents was 6 deaths per 100,000 people, over four times that of White residents. As of October 31, the mortality rate among Latino/Latinx residents decreased to 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people, twice that of African American/Black residents, Asian residents and White residents, all who have a mortality rate of a little less than 1 death per 100,000.

We continue to see a high mortality rate among people living in areas with the highest levels of poverty, with over three times the death rate when compared to people living in the lowest levels of poverty.

There is much work to do to close these gaps and address disproportionality, and we will continue to work with partners to address the inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities that are essential for optimal health and well-being. This includes working hard with businesses to ensure they adhere to the required protocols that protect employees and customers.

Of the 25 new deaths reported today, nine people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, seven people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, six people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29 years old. Nineteen people who died had underlying health conditions including nine people over the age of 80, seven people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and three people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

Ninety-three percent of the people who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,731 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. Upon further investigation, 27 cases and two deaths reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Testing results are available for more than 3,200,000 individuals with 9% of all people testing positive.

The 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 Thursday

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a statewide plan for reducing COVID-19 and keeping Californians healthy and safe. The plan 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.

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.

Popular links include:

– 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)

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 Nov. 2, 126 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide. To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, we are 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 is critical to preventing long-term complications.

Racial Demographics – A More Complete Picture
The California Department of Public Health is committed to health equity and collecting more detailed racial and ethnic data that will provide additional understanding for determining future action. Health outcomes are affected by forces including structural racism, poverty and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African American Californians. Only by looking at the full picture can we understand how to ensure the best outcomes for all Californians.

The differences in health outcomes related to COVID-19 are most stark in COVID-19 deaths. We have nearly complete data on race and ethnicity for COVID-19 deaths, and we are seeing the following trends. 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 about double their population representation across all adult age categories. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but about three-fold difference 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.

New Data Portal
The state has launched a new, user-friendly data portal at COVID-19 Statewide Update that tracks COVID-19 cases statewide and by county, gender, age and ethnicity. The portal also outlines statewide hospitalizations and testing efforts. The data presented on the portal will be updated daily and will include additional information as it is available.

Your Actions Save Lives
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 such 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.

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.