The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday the highest number of COVID-19 cases in a day since mid-April with 506 new cases. This is more than a doubling of new cases in two weeks.

To date, Public Health identified 1,250,717 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, including 28,298 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley and a total of 24,489 deaths countywide. There are 275 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 28% of these people are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Testing results are available for more than 7,035,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive.

The County’s daily test positivity rate is 1.2%, an increase from last week’s rate of 0.7%. The daily average case rate is 2.19 cases per 100,000 people, also an increase from last week’s rate of 1.74 cases per 100,000.

With the recent rise in cases, tracking the proliferation of variants of concern remains a high priority as we seek to better understand the factors that may be contributing to increased community transmission. Public Health is watching particularly closely for Delta variants, which were first detected in India, and are now estimated to comprise more than 26% of U.S. cases.

Between last week and this week, the number Delta variants sequenced doubled to reach a total of 245, 47% of all sequences reported. The rising proportion of Delta among sequenced variants of concern is consistent with what other parts of the U.S. are seeing and represents increased circulation of the variant. Given that 4 million residents in L.A. County are not yet vaccinated, the risk of increased spread is very real.

The Delta variant appears to be highly transmissible – that is, it is more contagious even than other highly contagious COVID-19 variants – and because there is concern that it may cause more severe infections than other COVID-19 variants. And while emerging data affirms that fully vaccinated people are well protected from severe infections with Delta variants, people with only one vaccine are not as well-protected, and there is increasing evidence that a very small number of fully vaccinated individuals can become infected and may be able to infect others. Nonetheless, vaccines remain the most important tool to keep COVID-19 transmission and the incubation of variants low, and the pandemic today is almost entirely among unvaccinated individuals.

As of June 27, more than 10,439,634 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people across Los Angeles County. Of these, 5,822,499 were first doses and 4,617,135 were second doses. Among L.A. County residents 16 and over, 68% have received one dose of vaccine and 59% have been fully vaccinated. Among L.A. County seniors 65 and over, 87% have received one dose of vaccine and 76% have been fully vaccinated.

Of the six new deaths reported Thursday, two people that passed away were over the age of 80, two people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49.

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

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 6:00 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard remained unchanged from Wednesday, with a total of 308 COVID-19 related deaths in the SCV since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 308 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

265 in Santa Clarita

17 in Castaic (**revised from 18)

6 in Acton

6 in Stevenson Ranch

4 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Lake Hughes

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

1 in Valencia

1 in Val Verde

Of the 28,298 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 20,718

Castaic: 3,765

(includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 1,182

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 855

Acton: 499

Val Verde: 339

Agua Dulce: 291

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 200

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 132

Elizabeth Lake: 82

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 69

Bouquet Canyon: 49

Lake Hughes: 42

Saugus/Canyon Country: 40

Sand Canyon: 17

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 15

Placerita Canyon: 3

*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 Newhall Hospital Thursday Update
As of Thursday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital has one test pending, 12 patients hospitalized and a total of 1,255 patients had been treated and discharged since the pandemic began, and no additional deceased, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

The last COVID-related death occurred May 21.

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.

L.A. County

“To those of you who have lost friends, family, neighbors, or coworkers to this virus, please know that our thoughts and hearts are with you during this difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we found ourselves in a situation where we knew very little about this virus and had very few tools to combat it. Although we now have three vaccines that we know are extraordinarily effective at preventing serious illness and death against the various strains of COVID-19 and variants of concern, there is still much we don’t know about the Delta variant, including whether fully vaccinated people are capable of passing along the variant if they become infected. Our recommendation for everyone to wear masks indoors in those settings where vaccination status cannot be verified will help press pause on viral transmission while we learn more. We have enough risk and enough unvaccinated people for Delta to pose a threat to our recovery, and masking up now could help prevent a resurgence in transmission.”

Beginning this Friday, July 2 through next Thursday, July 8 at county-run vaccination sites, LA City sites, and St. John’s Well Child and Family Center sites, everyone 18 and older coming to get a vaccine will have an opportunity to win one of four packages of tickets and passes to botanical gardens in the area. Each prize package consists of one annual membership to the Huntington Botanical Gardens and one-day passes to Descanso Gardens, L.A. County Arboretum, and South Coast Botanic Garden. Official rules and participating site locations will be posted online on the Los Angeles Vaccination Sweepstakes page. The season passes to Six Flags, the LA Zoo, the Natural History Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits, and ticket packs to the California Science Center sweepstakes is currently in effect through the end of the day today.

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 3,712,152 cases and 63,096 deaths to date. There are 1,090 confirmed hospitalizations and 300 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.
Note: Some counties are reporting backlogged cases due to data cleaning efforts. The number of backlogged cases varies by county and this is expected until July 2, 2021.

There were 1,698 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 1.4%.

There have been 69,687,332 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 81,601 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of July 1, providers have reported administering a total of 41,707,555 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 48,200,435 doses have been delivered to entities within the state. 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 June 30, local health departments have reported 113,103 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 474 deaths statewide.

Vaccine Eligibility Update

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 June 20 to June 26, the average time patients waited for test results was under one day. During this same time period, 88% of patients received test results in one day and 97% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of June 28 there have been 567 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.