The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 28 new deaths and 1,222 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 36,240 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

New Vaccination Requirements Go Into Effect

Starting Thursday night, new vaccine requirements will go into effect at select establishments across L.A. County. The vaccination requirements applying to indoor portions of bars, lounges, nightclubs, breweries, wineries, and distilleries affect all patrons 12 or older and all employees.

Prior to entering indoor portions of these establishments, customers and employees will need to show proof of vaccination along with a photo ID. As of tonight, proof of at least one dose will be adequate for admission, and on November 4, patrons and employees will need to show proof of full vaccination prior to entering.

There are also new requirements in effect for outdoor mega events, including large sport arenas and theme parks, where all attendees age 12 or older will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result to enter. Beginning Nov. 1, a photo ID will also need to be shown for attendees 18 and older along with proof of full vaccination or a negative test result.

So if you are going to a Halloween event at a large theme park, or you’re cheering on any L.A. sports teams by attending a game at an indoor or outdoor arena, please be prepared to show your proof of vaccination or negative test result if you are 12 or older.

Beginning Nov. 6, a recently passed L.A. City ordinance requires proof of vaccination from individuals eligible to receive a COVID vaccine to enter the indoor portions of many establishments in the city of L.A. including restaurants, personal care establishments, fitness venues, entertainment and recreation venues, along with large outdoor events.

Of the 28 new deaths reported Thursday, five people who passed away were over the age of 80, 10 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 11 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29. One death was reported by the city of Pasadena.

To date, Public Health identified 1,467,450 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 26,254 deaths.

There are 750 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 28% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for nearly 8,740,000 individuals with 15% of people testing positive. Thursday’s test positivity rate is 1.1%.

On Sept. 29, the County had a daily average of 1,028 new cases, a 23% decrease from the prior week and daily hospitalizations declined 13% to 900. Meanwhile, deaths decreased to a daily average of 13, a drop over the past week of 28%. While we are relieved to see deaths decreasing, it is still heartbreaking to know we are still seeing so many premature and largely preventable deaths each week as a result of this disease.

County schools continue to prove that vaccines and other preventive measures, especially masking, are extremely effective. Last week, there were 705 student cases and more than 3,100 student close contacts, decreases of nearly 50% in both groups. Among staff, there were only 97 cases and 51 close contacts. The mitigation strategies school partners have worked so hard to put in place are the driving force behind these downward trends, and we are grateful for all the effort to keep staff, students and their families safe.

Public Health Giveaway

There’s now an additional reason to get vaccinated if you’re a middle or high school student in L.A. County. UCLA has partnered with Public Health to give away free tickets to a UCLA football game at the Rose Bowl to middle or high school students in L.A. County who’ve received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while tickets last. Students aged 12 to 18 who’ve received at least one dose can sign up for the free tickets online by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/DPHUCLATickets.

**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 cases 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 cases in staff by school site.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital

As of Thursday, there are zero tests pending, 15 patients in the hospital, a total of 1,548 patients who have been treated and discharged since the pandemic began, and no additional deaths, confirmed spokesman Patrick Moody.

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.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 6:00 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded two additional deaths in the city of Santa Clarita and one additional death in Castaic, bringing the total of COVID-19 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley to 343.

The following is the community breakdown of the 343 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

288 in Santa Clarita

21 in Castaic

9 in Acton (**revised from 10)

8 in Stevenson Ranch

6 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

3 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 36,240 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 26,630

* Castaic: 4,411

Stevenson Ranch: 1,676

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 1,136

Acton: 747

Val Verde: 420

Agua Dulce: 395

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 270

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 162

Elizabeth Lake: 113

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 69

Bouquet Canyon: 63

Lake Hughes: 54

Saugus/Canyon Country: 49

Sand Canyon: 22

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 19

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

“Our deepest condolences go out to everyone who is grieving the loss of a neighbor, coworker, family member, or friend during this time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Doing our part increasingly means being vaccinated if we plan on entering places where there is an increased risk of virus transmission or work in settings where we provide others with services. During a pandemic, requiring vaccinations in these settings is a sensible requirement that acknowledges our collective obligation to ensure safety and save lives.”

As the fall holidays are close, residents of all ages are looking forward to safely celebrating Halloween. The safest activities will be those that are outside, including outdoor costume parties, pumpkin patch visits, outdoor ghost tours, hayrides, and trick-or-treating – when done safely. It is best to set up trick-or-treat events outdoors, limit treats to commercially packaged, non-perishable items, set up stations with individually packaged bags so trick-or-treaters can grab and go at each stop, and keep a distance from other trick-or-treaters.

Public Health encourages everyone unvaccinated for COVID-19 to get vaccinated ahead of time to be fully protected for the holidays. If you are unvaccinated, you can visit any local site to get your first vaccine; and if you’re due for a booster shot, you can get one at any site that offer Pfizer vaccines.

Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments are not needed at many sites and all Public Health vaccination sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

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 4,529,563 cases and 69,351 deaths to date. There are 4,314 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,205 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

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

There were 4,710 newly reported confirmed cases Wednesday.

Cases are occurring largely among unvaccinated populations. See the data for vaccinated and unvaccinated cases.

– For the week of Sept. 19 – Sept. 25, the average case rate among unvaccinated Californians age 16 or older is 43.5 per 100,000 per day and the average case rate among vaccinated Californians age 16 or older is significantly lower at 6.1 per 100,000 per day.

– The great majority of new cases are among unvaccinated individuals. The rate among the unvaccinated is 7.1 times the rate among the vaccinated.

The 7-day positivity rate is 2.6%.

There have been 94,503,868 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 145,348 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of Oct. 7, according to the CDC, 84.7% of eligible Californians have received at least one dose. Providers have reported to CDPH that a total of 50,214,151 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 Oct. 6, local health departments have reported 125,841 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 512 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 Sept. 19 to Sept. 25, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.2 days. During this same time period, 76% of patients received test results in one day and 89% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Oct. 4, there have been 629 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.