Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported an additional death from COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the total number to 211 since the onset of the pandemic, spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

Currently, the hospital has zero tests pending, 53 patients in the hospital, and a total of 2,077 patients who have been treated and discharged since the pandemic began.

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.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 40 additional deaths and 2,695,026 total cases to date countywide, with 69,604 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the 96 new deaths reported Thursday, four people were between the ages of 30 and 49, 13 were between the ages of 50 and 64, 35 were between the ages of 65-79, and 41 were over the age of 80 years old. Of the 96 newly reported deaths, 84 had underlying conditions. Information on the one death reported by the City of Long Beach and the two deaths reported by the city of Pasadena is available at www.LongBeach.gov and www.CityofPasadena.net To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 29,195.

Public Health has identified a total of 2,695,076 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 7.9%

There are 3,398 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,107,900 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.

COVID-19 is the Leading Cause of Death Across L.A. County

More L.A. County residents passed away from COVID-19 between March 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021 (24,947), than those who passed away from coronary heart diseases (21,513), which is historically the leading cause of death across the county. Over the same 22 months, there were 3,422 pneumonia and influenza deaths recorded, a far lower number of deaths when compared to COVID deaths. For the month of December, there were 396 deaths from COVID-19 compared to 163 deaths from pneumonia or influenza based on death certificate data. Unfortunately, despite the availability of vaccines and the dominance of Omicron, which generally causes less severe disease than prior variants, COVID-19 deaths continue to far outstrip deaths due to other respiratory illness.

As the latest surge continues to subside, older and unvaccinated residents continue being the most at risk of ending up in the intensive care unit (ICU) or even dying.

The seven-day average COVID ICU census dipped only slightly from 760 to 740 as of February 1, representing a 3% decline from the week prior. Meanwhile, among all COVID-positive hospitalized patients, 20% required ICU level care compared to 17% for the week prior, and 14% required ventilation compared to 12% the week prior.

Among COVID-19 residents admitted to the ICU, those 65 and older made up the majority at 53%; ages 50-64 were 27%; ages 30-49 were 13%; ages 18-29 were 4%; and those under 18 were 2%.

Additionally, vaccination status plays a key role in determining risk of critical illness and death. For the period ending Jan. 22, residents who were fully vaccinated and had a booster were about 31 times less likely to need care in an ICU than those who were not vaccinated. Fully vaccinated individuals who did not have a booster dose were about 8 times less likely to be admitted to an ICU than unvaccinated individuals.

Data also showed that COVID-19 continues to disproportionately affect certain residents. From Dec. 17, 2021, through Jan. 15, 2022, unvaccinated residents ages 50-64 were over 15 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the same age group who were fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated residents 65 and older were 24 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those fully vaccinated.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to those families who have lost a loved one due to COVID-19,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “As our COVID-19 metrics continue to improve, it is important to plan for ‘post-surge’ approaches that can minimize COVID-19 risk after this winter surge has ended, especially for those most at-risk. ‘Post-surge’ does not imply that the pandemic is over, or that transmission is low, or that there will not be additional unpredictable waves of surges that will require integrated public health measures. Rather, it acknowledges that currently we are stabilizing with consistent declines from the surge peak and realigns our current public health response to meet current mitigation needs. I am grateful to everyone for continuing, for two very long years, to take care of each other and for taking responsibility to layer in masking and other protections that help us move closer to our post-surge phase and to less virus transmission.”

To keep workplaces and schools open, residents and workers are asked to:

– Get tested to help reduce the spread, especially if you traveled for the holidays, have had a possible exposure, or have symptoms, or are gathering with people not in your household

– Adhere to masking requirements when indoors or at crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status

– Residents are legally required to be isolated if they have a positive COVID test result and vaccinated close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined.

For information on where you can get tested, please visit www.covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/.

For updated isolation and quarantine guidance, please visit www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are recommended for everyone 5 years old and older to help protect against COVID-19. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments are not needed at all Public Health vaccination sites and many community sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

To find a vaccination site near you, or to make an appointment, please visit:

www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or

www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

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

Staff Dashboard

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reports four additional deaths from COVID-19 in the city of Santa Clarita, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to date in the SCV to 403.

The following is the community breakdown per L.A. County’s dashboard:

Santa Clarita: 327

Castaic: 27

Acton: 15

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 10

Stevenson Ranch: 9

Agua Dulce: 5

Val Verde: 3

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Elizabeth Lake: 1

Newhall: 1

unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

Lake Hughes: 0 (**revised from 1)

SCV Cases

Of the 69,604 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 51,733

Castaic: 6,893

Stevenson Ranch: 3,832

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 2,469

Acton: 1,432

Val Verde: 801

Agua Dulce: 761

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 645

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 302

Elizabeth Lake: 190

Bouquet Canyon: 145

Lake Hughes: 136

Saugus/Canyon Country: 87

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 84

Sand Canyon: 46

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 33

Placerita Canyon: 15

*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.

California Thursday

Statewide COVID-19 Data

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

Vaccinations

– 69,811,754 total vaccines administered.

– 82.1% of the eligible population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 109,149 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 7,969,398 confirmed cases to date.

– Thursday’s average case count is 64,466 (average daily case count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people are 7.5 times more likely to get COVID-19 than boosted individuals (January 10, 2022 – January 16, 2022).

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 13.2% (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 12,643 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 2,366 ICU patients statewide.

– Unvaccinated people are 14.9 times more likely to be hospitalized than boosted individuals (January 10, 2022 – January 16,2022).

Deaths

– There have been 79,802 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 98 Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

· – Unvaccinated people are 30.0 times more likely to die than boosted individuals (Jan. 1, 2022 – Jan. 9, 2022).

Health Care Workers

Note: There has been no update of positive cases among health care workers since Jan. 6. As of Jan. 6, local health departments have reported 136,816 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 540 deaths statewide.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.8 days. During this same time period, 58% of patients received test results in one day and 75% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Jan. 31, there have been 803 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.

COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance

CDPH and the California State Water Resources Control Board are coordinating with several wastewater utilities, local health departments, universities and laboratories in California to monitor wastewater surveillance for the virus causing COVID-19. An explanation of wastewater surveillance, list of participating sites and related resources can be found on this webpage.

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.