Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Wednesday confirmed 141 new deaths and 3,434 new cases of COVID-19 countywide as Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia reported its 129th death.

The Santa Clarita Valley has now seen a total of 24,976 COVID-19 cases — 75 more since Tuesday — and 240 deaths since L.A. county’s first confirmed COVID-19 infection.

To date, Public Health identified 1,155,309 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 18,500 deaths.

As of Friday, Feb. 5, the average number of new cases is around 4,500 a day; a 70% decrease from the peak experienced in early-January when Public Health reported an average of over 15,000 cases per day.

Although cases may be declining, there remains an alarming gap between Latino/Latinx residents and other groups.

For Latino/Latinx residents, the daily rate of new cases was more than 2,300 per 100,000 people on Jan. 11.

Since then, the rate dropped to 856 new cases per 100,000 people but is still more than two times that of African American/Black residents who have the second-highest case rate of 400 new cases per 100,000 per day.

Asian residents have a case rate of 319 per 100,000 people and White residents have a case rate of 318 per 100,000 people.

When the surge began in early- November, the average number of Latino/Latinx residents who passed away each day was 3.4 deaths per 100,000 people and then sharply increased to 48 deaths per 100,000 people on January 16; an increase over 1,000%.

Two weeks later, the mortality rate among Latino/Latinx residents has declined to 33 deaths per 100,000 people, yet still remains over twice that of other groups.

Since mid-January, the mortality rate among African American/Black residents decreased from nearly 23 deaths per 100,000 people to 14 deaths per 100,000 people.

Deaths among Asian residents have declined since the peak, from 19 deaths per 100,000 people to 8 deaths per 100,000 people.

The current mortality rate among White residents is also 8 deaths per 100,000 people from the peak of about 16 deaths per 100,000 people.

While rates are declining for all groups, White and Asian residents have seen a more significant decline than that experienced by African American/Black and Latino/Latinx residents.

The mortality rate for Latino/Latinx residents has declined 31% and 39% for African American/Black residents since the peak.

For Asian residents, the death rate has declined 58%, and for White residents this rate has declined by 50%.

Public Health officials continue to see a high mortality rate among people living in areas with the highest levels of poverty, with three times the death rate compared to people living in the lowest levels of poverty.

Individuals and families living in the hardest-hit communities continue to remain a priority for Public Health as it moves forward, including in its efforts to vaccinate L.A. County residents.

“Each death we report is a tragedy and we wish everyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one from COVID-19 strength through these difficult times. You have our deepest condolences,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“I want to thank everyone who has communicated to us the considerations and concerns they have around vaccine access for the populations they serve,” Ferrer said, “Your input is invaluable and is being used to inform the county’s plans for vaccinating more sectors and groups in the near future. We move forward together and with hope.”

See more SCV and L.A. County info and a vaccine update later in this report.

California Wednesday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Tuesday, Feb. 9, California Department of Public Health officials confirmed a total of 3,362,981 COVID-19 cases (up 8,390) with 44,995 deaths from the disease (up 518) since the pandemic began.

There are 10,771 confirmed hospitalizations and 3,031 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing a downward trend.

As of Tuesday, Feb. 9, local health departments have reported 89,841 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 370 deaths statewide.

There have been 44,770,601 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 187,297 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

The 7-day positivity rate is 4.8% and the 14-day positivity rate is 5.5%, continuing a downward trend.

Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results may include cases from prior to yesterday.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 10, providers have reported administering a total of 5,089,483 vaccine doses statewide. Those numbers also do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed.

TThe CDC reports that 7,607,100 doses have been delivered to entities within the state, and 7,911,375 vaccine doses, which includes the first and second dose, have been shipped.

See more California information later in this report.

Screencap from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 dashboard, showing COVID deaths in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, February 10, 2021.

U.S. Deaths Exceed 464,000 People; Global Deaths Top 2.3 Million People

Worldwide, 107,316,506 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 2,323,761 people have died of the virus as of 5:22 p.m. Wednesday Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., more than 27,280,775 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has now surpassed 471,377.

With 4.25% of the world’s population (328.2 million) and more than 20% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, the U.S. also continues to lead the world in deaths.

By comparison, Brazil (population 209.5 million) is No. 2 in deaths with 234,850, and No. 3 in cases with 9,659,167. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 10,858,371 confirmed infections and No. 4 in deaths with 155,252 as of Wednesday evening.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Wednesday Update

The new death today bring Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital’s COVID-19 fatalities to 129 people since the pandemic began, spokesman Patrick Moody said.

As of Wednesday, 1 case is pending, 46 patients were hospitalized in dedicated COVID-19 units receiving ICU-level care, and a total of 1,086 patients have been treated and discharged, Moody said.

Henry Mayo releases complete statistics weekly, usually on Wednesdays, unless one or more new deaths occur.

Privacy laws prohibit Henry Mayo from releasing the community of residence for patients who die at the hospital; residence info is reported by the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, which generally lags 48 hours behind.

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update

As of 6 p.m. Monday, the latest update of the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded 237 deaths among Santa Clarita Valley residents since the pandemic began, but did not include the most recent deaths reported by Henry Mayo.

Of the 240 SCV residents who have died, 205 lived in Santa Clarita, 12 in Castaic, six in Acton, four in Stevenson Ranch, three in unincorporated Canyon Country, three in Agua Dulce, one in Newhall, one in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, one in Lake Hughes, one in Val Verde, and three in communities not yet named.

Of the 24,976 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

* City of Santa Clarita: 18,228

* Castaic: 3,495 (incl. Pitchess Detention Center & North County Correctional Facility*)

* Stevenson Ranch: 992

* Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 738

* Acton: 412

* Val Verde: 295

* Agua Dulce: 242

* Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 169

* Saugus (unincorporated portion): 125

* Elizabeth Lake: 71

* Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 66

* Bouquet Canyon: 42

* Lake Hughes: 38

* Saugus/Canyon Country: 34

* Sand Canyon: 15

* San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 14

*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.

Vaccine & Vaccination Update

While COVID-19 vaccine supply remains very limited, L.A. County Public Health continues to build an extensive network with pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, hospitals, health clinics, and community vaccination sites, including six large-capacity sites:

* Dodger Stadium (operated by the city of Los Angeles)

* Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy, Valencia 91355

* California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge 91330

* Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave, Pomona 91768

* The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood 90305

* L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey 90242

State and federal authorities will open another large-capacity vaccination site at California State University, Los Angeles, targeting underserved communities, on February 16, Gov. Newsom said Wednesday.

In addition, the state announced that in the next several weeks the vaccination effort statewide will be coordinated by a third-party administrator, Blue Shield of California.

We look forward to working with Blue Shield and the State to ensure that we have an efficient and effective vaccine distribution system that meets the needs of our communities.

During and after this transition, Public Health’s website, www.VaccinateLACounty.com and www.VaccunateLosAngeles.com, will remain a portal for the latest information about COVID-19 and the vaccine and link people to the statewide appointment registration system.

Public Health continues working on strategies that improve access to vaccines for people who are older with limited mobility and needing assistance securing appointments.

The department is organizing mobile teams to bring vaccinations directly to seniors living in housing developments or accessing senior centers in hardest-hit communities.

Community health workers in the highly impacted communities, at times, will go block by block to provide information to residents about how to get vaccinated and dispel myths and misinformation about the vaccine.

In addition, the County is working to support neighborhood vaccination sites, and have placed 60 volunteers from various universities at sites to provide assistance with data entry, cold-chain support and licensed clinical vaccinators.

Currently, vaccinations are open to healthcare workers, staff and residents at long-term care facilities, and people ages 65 and older.

Prioritization of groups to be vaccinated happens at the federal level, and then these recommendations are reviewed and finalized at the state level. Counties are asked to implement the state’s prioritized tiering.

On Jan. 25, Governor Newsom announced three additional frontline workers should be vaccinated as part of Phase 1B Tier 1: Education and Childcare workers, Food and Agriculture workers, and Emergency Services workers.

With very limited vaccine supply and uncertainty on timing for increased production, a realistic and carefully developed plan for expanding vaccination availability to these additional sectors is being developed.

We plan to start vaccinations for workers in these sectors in 2 to 3 weeks.

As the department finalizes vaccination plans for frontline workers in these sectors, Public Health is consulting with dozens of stakeholders, including community-based organizations, elected officials and city managers, other government agencies, school districts, childcare providers, healthcare and vaccination partners, labor unions, faith-based organizations, representatives of grocery stores and agriculture communities, law enforcement and the courts.

Public Health estimates more than 547,000 people are working in the Food and Agriculture sector and will be eligible for the vaccine, 668,000 people in the childcare and education sector, and 154,000 law enforcement and emergency responders in our County.

Public Health remains acutely aware that the county will continue, for a significant number of weeks ahead, to have a very limited supply of vaccines.

Based on anticipated allocations over the next month, Public Health hopes to receive, on average, 200,000 doses a week.

If on average, Public Health needs to use 100,000 of these vaccines for second doses, that leaves 100,000 doses a week to distribute among the remaining 2.4 million individuals that will be eligible to be vaccinated. So for now, it will take time to reach everyone.

Public Health asks that residents don’t sign up to be vaccinated if it is not their turn. Signing up for a vaccine before it is your turn may take away an appointment from a high-risk person who is unlikely to be vaccinated when you show up for the appointment.

“Please do the right thing: wait your turn for a vaccine and allow those eligible for the vaccine to register and be vaccinated,” L.A. County Public Health’s Barbara Ferrer said.

L.A. County Demographics — Deaths by Age Group

Of the 141 new deaths reported today, 48 people who passed away were over the age of 80, 43 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 30 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, 10 people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49, and three people who died were between the ages of 18 and 29. Five deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and two deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

L.A. County Demographics — Cases by Age Group (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4: 21576

* 5 to 11: 52367

* 12 to 17: 65490

* 18 to 29: 259595

* 30 to 49: 364236

* 50 to 64: 210788

* 65 to 79: 83897

* over 80: 30305

* Under Investigation 6753

L.A. County Public Health’s Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Governor Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.

With the Regional Stay at Home Order rescinded statewide as of January 25, all counties are now under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity.

* 54 counties are currently in the Purple Tier (including Los Angeles County)

* 1 county is currently in the Red Tier (Mariposa)

* 3 counties are currently in the Orange Tier (Alpine, Sierra, Trinity)

* No counties are in the Yellow Tier

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. Find the status of activities in specific counties.

Vaccinate All 58
In order to increase the pace of COVID-19 vaccine distribution to those at greatest risk, the state is prioritizing individuals 65 and older to receive the vaccine as demand subsides among health care workers. This effort will help to reduce hospitalizations and save lives.

To sign up for a notification when you’re eligible for a vaccine, visit myturn.ca.gov.

For more information on the vaccine effort, visit the Vaccinate All 58 webpage.

‘Safe Schools for All’ Plan
Governor Newsom launched the Safe Schools for All Hub as a one-stop-shop for information about safe in-person instruction.

For more information on the transparency, accountability, and assistance measures related to California’s Safe Schools for All plan, visit the hub.

Travel Advisory

California Public Health has issued an updated travel advisory. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

Non-essential travelers from other states or countries are strongly discouraged from entering California and should adhere to the state’s self-quarantine procedures for 10 days.

California Demographics: Health Equity Dashboard

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing inequities in health that are the result of structural racism and poverty, and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African Americans.

As part of its commitment to reduce health inequities and ensure the best outcomes for all Californians, the state has launched a Health Equity Dashboard on www.covid19.ca.gov/equity/ that tracks California’s health equity measure and data by race and ethnicity, age group, and sexual orientation/gender identity.

California Testing & Turnaround Time
More than 85 community testing sites offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

The testing turnaround dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. California has worked to reduce testing turnaround times in recent weeks to help curb the spread of the virus.

During the week of January 17 to January 23, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.2 days. During this same time period, 74% of patients received test results in one day and 92% received them within two days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

All four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020, have equal priority for testing.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

Each week, the California Department of Public Health updates the number of cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported in the state.

As of February 8, 224 cases of MIS-C reported statewide, 24 more than the previous week. To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, we are not providing total counts at this time.

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. Parents should be aware of the signs and symptoms of MIS-C including fever that does not go away, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling tired.

Contact your child’s doctor immediately if your child has these symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment of patients are critical to preventing long-term complications.

Protect Yourself and Your Family: Your Actions Save Lives

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

* Staying home except for essential needs/activities following local and state public health guidelines when patronizing approved businesses. To the extent that sectors are re-opened, Californians may leave their homes to work at, patronize, or otherwise engage with those businesses, establishments or activities.

* Avoiding non-essential travel, and practicing self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival if you leave the state.

* Keeping interactions to people who live in your household.

* Wearing a cloth face mask when out in public.

* Washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.

* Avoiding touching eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

* Covering a cough or sneeze with your sleeve or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward.

* Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

* Staying away from work, school, or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.

* Getting tested if you believe you’ve been exposed. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

* Getting vaccinated when it’s your turn.

* Adding your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

* Answering the call if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or local health department tries to connect.

* Following guidance from public health officials.

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 healthcare provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

California COVID-19 Data and Tools

A wide range of data and analysis guides California’s response to COVID-19. The state is making the data and its analytical tools available to researchers, scientists and the public at covid19.ca.gov.

* The Statewide COVID-19 Dashboard

* The California COVID-19 Assessment Tool (CalCAT)

* State Cases and Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Age Group

* COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data

* COVID-19 Hospital Data and Case Statistics

* View additional datasets at the California Open Data Portal (including Testing Data, PPE Logistics Data, Hospital Data, Homeless Impact and more)

Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.

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Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus (COVID-19):

* Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

* California Department of Public Health

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

* Spanish

* World Health Organization

* Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard

L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1.

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