The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday a total of 14 new deaths and 5,170 new cases countywide, with 161 new cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the 14 new deaths reported Tuesday, one person was between the ages of 30-49, four people were between the ages of 50-64, four people were between the ages of 65-79, and five people were aged 80 years or older. Of the 14 newly reported deaths, 12 had underlying health conditions.

Tuesday’s positivity rate is 16.3%.

There are 1,153 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 12,238,563 individuals, with 23% of people testing positive.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 32,464, county case totals to 3,183,359 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 83,440 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 total 482.

More than 12,234,000 individuals tested; 23% of people tested positive to date.

With continued increases in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over the past two weeks, wearing high-quality respirator masks and getting tested are critical steps to slowing the spread of COVID-19, as vaccination, boosters, and therapeutics remain key strategies for reducing serious illness and death.

While L.A. County remains at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated COVID-19 Community Level of Medium, the county is very likely to move into High later this week as the rate of daily new admissions continues to increase. Using L.A. County specific data, as of yesterday, the county was at 8.8 new admissions per 100,000 people. Once the county reaches 10 new admissions per 100,000 residents, the county will enter the High Community Level. Should the county remain in the High Community Level designation for two consecutive weeks, universal indoor masking, in alignment with the CDC, would be implemented across L.A. County.

Fueling the high rates of transmission is the increased circulation of new highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants. The Omicron variant continues to account for 100% of the sequenced specimens, with a steady increase in the proportions of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. To date, Public Health has detected a total of 677 positive, sequenced specimens of these two subvariants – 285 of BA.4 and 392 of BA.5. In the week ending June 18, BA.4 and BA.5 accounted for 40% of all specimens sequenced, which is over 2.5 times higher than just two weeks prior. The CDC estimates that, across the country, as of the week ending July 2 – the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron combined accounted for just over 70% of specimens, a considerable increase from the 39% just two weeks ago.

In both the national data and L.A. County data, BA.4 and BA.5 both continue to outcompete the BA.2 subvariant and its sublineages, with the BA.5 subvariant increasing at a faster rate than the BA.4 subvariant. With the growing presence of BA.4 and BA.5 in L.A. County, the number of daily new cases continues to rise. Over the last seven days, the average number of daily new cases reported was 5,706, a 15% increase from two weeks ago when the average number of daily new cases reported was 4,960.

After weeks of high case numbers fueled by highly infectious strains of COVID, the number of people severely ill and needing to be hospitalized is increasing rapidly. Over the last seven days, the average number of COVID-positive patients per day in L.A. County hospitals was 1,035, a 40% increase from two weeks ago when the average number of COVID-positive patients per day was 741.

Deaths, which typically lag hospitalizations by several weeks are also increasing, with an average of 14 deaths reported per day this past week, compared to an average of eight deaths two weeks ago.

As COVID infections remain devastating for thousands of individuals, it is important to note that COVID is still a leading cause of death in L.A. County. Since January 2022, over 4,300 county residents have died from COVID; this is more than the average number of all annual deaths from influenza, colds, motor vehicle fatalities, and overdoses together. On average, there is only one death each year from the common cold, and less than 1,500 from influenza.

Given the evidence that COVID is more deadly than both colds and influenza, appropriate strategies are needed to reduce high transmission, since only those infected can suffer the most severe of outcomes from the virus.

Studies continue to show that widespread, universal masking with well-fitting, high-quality masks, remains one of the simplest, most effective measures to reduce transmission of COVID.

One study showed that, in 2020, counties that had a mask mandate had case rates that were 35% lower than counties that did not have one. In fall of 2021, school districts in Arkansas that had a mask requirement had case rates 23% lower than school districts that did not have such a requirement.

Studies show that respirators continue to provide especially good protection. A 2021 study in California found that people who regularly used respirators like N95s or KN95s had 83% lower odds of testing positive than people who never wore masks.

Well-fitting respirators are particularly important for those at elevated risk. Respirators such as a N95, KN95, and KF94 are designed to filter out very small particles, with N95 and KN95 respirators filtering at least 95% of airborne particles and KF94s filtering at least 94%. Respirators that fit well and provide a tight seal on the face provide more protection than a cloth mask or a medical mask.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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.

Schools Community Dashboard

Student Dashboard

Staff Dashboard

Santa Clarita Valley Tuesday Update
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported an additional death in the city of Santa Clarita and one additional death in Elizabeth Lake, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the SCV to 482.

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

Santa Clarita: 392

Castaic: 31

Acton: 17

Stevenson Ranch: 15

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 9 (revised from 10)

Agua Dulce: 6

Val Verde: 3 (revised from 4)

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Elizabeth Lake: 2

Newhall: 1

unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

Lake Hughes: 1

SCV Cases

Of the 83,440 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 61,562

Castaic: 8,481

Stevenson Ranch: 4,892

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 3,016

Acton: 1,665

Val Verde: 924

Agua Dulce: 861

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 795

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 366

Elizabeth Lake: 233

Bouquet Canyon: 170

Lake Hughes: 172

Saugus/Canyon Country: 103

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 92

Sand Canyon: 53

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 38

Placerita Canyon: 17

*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 Tuesday

The California Department of Public Health now updates their numbers on Tuesday and Friday. The information below is from the most recent data released Tuesday, July 12.

Vaccinations

– 77,851,959 total vaccines administered.

– 79.4% of the population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 28,044 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 9,619,398 confirmed cases to date.

– Tuesday’s average case count is 14,472 (average daily case count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people are 5.3 times more likely to get COVID-19 than boosted individuals (June 13, 2022 – June 19, 2022).

Testing

The testing positivity rate is 16.1% (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 4,277 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 453 ICU patients statewide.

– Unvaccinated people are 6.6 times more likely to be hospitalized than boosted individuals (June 13, 2022 – June 19, 2022).

Deaths

– There have been 92,055 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 21 Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people are 7.2 times more likely to die than boosted individuals (June 6, 2022 – June 12, 2022).

Health Care Workers

As of July 7, local health departments have reported 169,572 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 582 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 June 26 to July 2, the average time patients waited for test results was 0.9 day. During this same time period, 86% of patients received test results in one day and 97% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of July 11, there have been 1006 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.

Additional Updates

Mask Guidance: Under California’s mask guidance, universal masking is required only in specified higher risk settings like hospitals, public transit and congregate living facilities. Unvaccinated persons are required to mask in all indoor public settings. Fully vaccinated individuals are recommended to continue indoor masking when the risk may be high. Workplaces will continue to follow the COVID-19 prevention standards set by CalOSHA. Local health jurisdictions may implement requirements that are stricter than state guidance.

Slow the Spread: Get Vaccinated and Boosted for COVID-19

The risk for COVID-19 exposure and infection continues as a number of Californians remain unvaccinated and unboosted.

Real-world evidence continues to show that the vaccine is preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Public health officials urge Californians to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.

It is recommended that every individual six months of age and older receive their primary COVID-19 vaccine series and booster dose.

It is recommended that every vaccinated person 12 years or older should get a booster as long as they received their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least five months ago or they received their Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.

Vaccination appointments can be made by visiting myturn.ca.gov or calling 1-833-422-4255. The consent of a parent or legal guardian may be needed for those under age 18 to receive a vaccination. Visit Vaccinate All 58 to learn more about the safe and effective vaccines available for all Californians 5+.

Your Actions Save Lives

Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

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.