The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 10 new deaths and 314 new cases of COVID-19, with 28,173 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

From December 7, 2020, when vaccinations first became available, to June 7, 2021, 99.6% of the County’s nearly 437,000 COVID-19 cases were individuals who were unvaccinated. There were nearly 12,900 COVID-19 hospitalizations over this time period, 98.7% occurred among people who were unvaccinated. Among the 12,234 COVID-19 deaths across L.A. County during this period, 99.8% were among unvaccinated people.

Of the 10 new deaths reported Thursday, seven people that passed away were between the ages of 65 and 79 and one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64. Two deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health identified 1,248,415 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,465 deaths. There are 234 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 27% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for nearly 6,983,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive. The County’s daily test positivity rate is 0.74% and the daily average case rate is 1.74 cases per 100,000 people.

After a period of persistent declines in many metrics, L.A. County is starting to see small increases in cases, hospitalizations, and daily test positivity. This is a signal that the virus is still here and that even now everyone needs to be careful to mask and maintain a distance from people outside your households, if not yet vaccinated. The County’s recovery is best supported by continuing to take sensible safety precautions that prevent increases in community transmission.

Although transmission rates remain relatively low, Public Health continues to track the proliferation of variants of concern, because where there are pockets of unvaccinated individuals, these variants can proliferate. In the United States, the Delta variants have become increasingly prevalent among the strains sequenced: the CDC notes that Delta variants account for almost 21% of cases across the country. Public Health is especially concerned about this variant because it appears to be highly transmissible – that is, it is more contagious even than other highly contagious COVID-19 variants.

In the week ending June 12, Delta variants comprised of nearly 48% of all variants sequenced in Los Angeles County. The 123 Delta variants collected between April 21 and June 12 are geographically clustered. Forty-nine of these cases were isolated from residents of Palmdale and Lancaster, and 14 of these cases are associated with one household. About half of the people with a Delta variant lived in a household with at least one other Delta variant case. While fully vaccinated people appear to be well protected from infections with Delta variants, people with only one vaccine are not as well-protected.

As of June 20, more than 10,222,171 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people across Los Angeles County. Of these, 5,734,611 were first doses and 4,487,560 were second doses. Among L.A. County residents 16 and over, 67% have received one dose of vaccine and 58% have been fully vaccinated. Among L.A. County seniors 65 and over, 87% have received one dose of vaccine and 75% have been fully vaccinated.

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

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 5:00 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard remained unchanged from Wednesday, recording 307 deaths in the SCV since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 307 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

264 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 28,173 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 20,634

Castaic: 3,749

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

Stevenson Ranch: 1,170

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 854

Acton: 494

Val Verde: 338

Agua Dulce: 286

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 199

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 had zero cases pending, nine patients hospitalized and a total of 1,248 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. “We are so glad to be able to gather for food and fun again. Although many safety measures have been lifted, we remain responsible collectively for keeping each other safe. The best way to prepare for the Fourth of July holiday is to be vaccinated. That way, keeping cookouts safe is much simpler: When everyone at a gathering is vaccinated, you can gather outdoors or inside without wondering who would be safer wearing a mask or keeping a distance. However, if any of the guests at your gathering are unvaccinated or immunocompromised, they should wear masks except when eating and drinking and keep a distance from people in other households when indoors. Outdoors, unvaccinated guests don’t need to mask unless the gathering is crowded with other unvaccinated guests.”

From May 20 to June 20, the County continues to see gaps in vaccination coverage in adults 16 and over with 44% of Black adults and 53% of Latinx adults receiving at least one dose compared to 65% of White residents and 74% of Asian residents. Although the County is glad to see that Black and Latinx residents were on the higher end of relative percent increases in vaccination, with a 7.7% jump among Black residents and an 8.2% jump among Latinx residents, larger increases are required to close the gaps.

Beginning tomorrow, Friday, June 25 through next Thursday, July 1 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 two packages, each containing 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. Official rules and participating site locations will be posted on the Los Angeles County Vaccination Sweepstakes page online tomorrow. The Pepe Aguilar at the Staples Center and Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Experience vaccination sweepstakes is currently in effect through the end of the day Thursday.

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 3,706,846 confirmed cases and 62,822 deaths to date. There are 955 confirmed hospitalizations and 274 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

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

There were 1,419 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 1.1%.

There have been 68,903,090 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 103,581 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of June 24, providers have reported administering a total of 40,873,812 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 47,761,505 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.

Note: Note: Thursday’s case count includes a backlog of 462 cases from Riverside County. Most of these cases occurred in 2020.

Health Care Workers

As of June 23, local health departments have reported 112,692 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 472 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. D During the week of June 6 to June 12, the average time patients waited for test results was under one day. During this same time period, 87% 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 21 there have been 543 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.