Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials confirmed Tuesday 37 new deaths and 8,786 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 68,974 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Public Health data shows that L.A. County is continuing to head in the right direction with decreases across most COVID-19 metrics including daily cases, test positivity, and hospitalizations.

For the week ending Jan. 31, L.A. County reported an average of 18,617 daily cases, representing a 38% decrease from the average of 29,978 daily cases reported the previous week. Similarly, the daily average case rate decreased to 193 positive cases per 100,000 residents for the week ending Jan. 31 compared to 311 positive cases per 100,000 residents for the prior week, representing a 38% decline in the average daily case rate. The seven-day average daily test positivity rate also declined by 33% to 8.8%, compared to 13.2% for the week prior.

In addition to hopeful case and test positivity trends, hospital admissions for Covid-positive patients in LA County have also significantly declined. For the week ending Jan. 30, the seven-day average of daily hospital admissions decreased by 143 admissions from the prior week to 441 admissions, translating into a 24% decline in County hospital admissions.

Unfortunately, deaths, which typically lag hospitalizations by several weeks, continue to trend slightly upward. The 7-day average daily deaths increased by 7% from an average of 58 daily reported deaths for the week ending January 24, to an average of 62 daily deaths reported for the week ending Jan. 31. Tragically, we are reporting another 37 deaths in the county today.

“I send my heartfelt condolences and wishes for healing to every family mourning the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPh, MEd, Director of Public Health. “The declines we are seeing are a hopeful sign that many of the disruptions experienced during this surge will begin to dissipate. Staffing shortages at schools, hospitals, public safety agencies, and businesses have interrupted essential services and the sheer number of residents infected, completely stressed our healthcare providers. Slowing the spread is always helped by many integrated public health interventions and we are grateful to all who continue to layer in protections and take personal responsibility for getting us back down to low rates of COVID -19 transmission. While we have turned the corner, we will need to remain cautious in order to maintain this downward trend.”

Today, Public Health confirmed 37 additional deaths and 8,786 new cases of COVID-19. Of the 37 new deaths reported today, two people were between the ages of 30 and 49, two were between the ages of 50 and 64, 12 were between the ages of 65-79, and 13 were over the age of 80 years old. Of the 37 newly reported deaths, 26 had underlying conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 28,998. Information on the eight deaths reported by the City of Long Beach is available at www.LongBeach.gov

Public Health has identified a total 2,668,094 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 8.9%.

There are 3,710 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,074,000 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive. Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported one additional death

Emergency Room Visits

Public Health is reminding residents to avoid visiting the emergency room unless they need emergency medical care. Residents should not be visiting the emergency department solely to get a COVID test or for minor complaints that could be resolved through their primary care physician. Emergency room visits should be reserved for those patients who are feeling severely ill, for example, those who are short of breath, or who have serious concerns about their health and who require immediate emergency care.

Business Compliance

Public Health continues to see high compliance across many different business sectors with Health Officer Order masking requirements indicating support for reasonable measures that keep employees and customers safe during the pandemic.

With the proliferation of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, as of Jan. 17, employers are also now required to provide employees who work indoors in close contact with others with well-fitting medical masks, surgical masks, or higher-level respirators, such as N95 or KN95 masks. These upgraded masks are better at blocking virus particles, providing additional protection to workers and customers.

Between Jan. 21-27, Public Health conducted more than 1,400 site inspections to assess mask and vaccination compliance across a variety of L.A County businesses. Compliance was near or above 90% among restaurants, bars, night clubs, lounges, breweries, food markets, hotels, and food manufacturing plants for customer wearing masks, employees wearing upgraded masks, and vaccination verification when applicable. Compliance for customer and employee mask wearing was around 80% in gyms, and compliance for employee mask wearing at garment manufacturers was 74%.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported one additional death from COVID-19, bringing the total number to 210 since the onset of the pandemic, hospital officials confirmed Tuesday.

Currently, the hospital has one test pending, 69 patients in the hospital, and a total of 2,055 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.

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 Tuesday Update
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reports no additional deaths from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley: leaving the number of COVID-19 deaths to date at 399.

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

Santa Clarita: 323

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 68,974 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 51,259

Castaic: 6,834

Stevenson Ranch: 3,800

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 2,448

Acton: 1,418

Val Verde: 797

Agua Dulce: 750

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 638

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 300

Elizabeth Lake: 188

Bouquet Canyon: 143

Lake Hughes: 136

Saugus/Canyon Country: 87

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 84

Sand Canyon: 45

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 32

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 Tuesday

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

– 69,591,517 total vaccines administered.

– 82% of the eligible population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 112,713 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 7,915,76 confirmed cases to date.

– Tuesday’s average case count is 74,004 (average daily case count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people are 8 times more likely to get COVID-19 than boosted individuals (week of Jan 16).

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 13.8% (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 13,367 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 2,494 ICU patients statewide.

– Unvaccinated people are 13 times more likely to be hospitalized than boosted individuals (week of Jan 9).

Deaths

– There have been 79,382 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 87 Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people are 22 times more likely to die than boosted individuals (week of Jan 2).

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.

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.