The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Wednesday confirmed 31 new deaths and 1,448 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, including 21 new cases in the Santa Clarita Valley, bringing the SCV total to 5,690 confirmed cases and 56 deaths.

To date, Public Health has identified 256,148 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 6,303 deaths.

“Our hearts go out to all the families and friends that are experiencing sadness and grief over losing a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“This pandemic has been difficult and frustrating in many ways, including placing limits on how we can celebrate safely,” Ferrer said. “On Friday evening, many people across the county will begin observing Rosh Hashana, and we wish all of you a happy new year. As you plan your high holidays, please remember that, while we are in this pandemic, the kindest thing we can do for one another is to protect each other from potentially becoming infected with COVID-19.

“All worship services for every denomination need to be held outdoors with adherence to distancing, infection control, and face-covering requirements,” she said. “Please be sure to keep each other safe.”

California Wednesday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Tuesday, September 15, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 762,963 COVID-19 cases (up 2,950), with 14,615 deaths from the disease (up 164).

There are 2,821 confirmed hospitalizations and 875 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 3.6% and the 14-day positivity rate is 3.6%.

As of September 13, local health departments have reported 35,846 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 172 deaths statewide.

Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results include cases from prior to yesterday.
As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase.

COVID Around the World: USA No. 1 in Cases, Deaths
Worldwide, 29,681,773 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 937,313 people have died as of 1:23 Wednesday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Since the pandemic began, more than 6,620,186 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while the number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has surpassed 196,465.

The United States has the world’s highest numbers of cases and deaths. By comparison, India, which surged past Brazil to take the No. 2 spot in cases over Labor Day Weekend, had confirmed 5,020,359 million cases and 82,066 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. Brazil still has the second-highest death toll at 133,119.

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update

The L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 data dashboard as of the latest update at 8 p.m. Monday, September 14, confirmed the SCV’s total of deaths is 56 since the pandemic began.

Of the people who died, 45 lived in the city of Santa Clarita, 4 in Castaic, 2 in Acton, 2 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 5,690 cases reported to Public Health among SCV residents to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 3,232

Castaic: 1,923 (most from Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 157

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 122

Val Verde: 67

Acton: 66

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 42

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 27

Agua Dulce: 26

Elizabeth Lake: 7

Bouquet Canyon: 6

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 6

Sand Canyon: 6

Lake Hughes: 2

Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

*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 Wednesday Update
Henry Mayo now releases statistics weekly, on Wednesdays, unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a COVID-related death has been confirmed, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

As of Wednesday, September 16, of the 7,664 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 839 tested positive, 8,925 were negative, 23 were pending, 14 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (two more than the previous Wednesday), and a total of 244 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far. COVID-19 fatalities at Henry Mayo stand at 22, Moody said.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested multiple times. “Often a single patient is tested more than once,” he said.

L.A. County Daily Average Decreasing

The number of new cases has steadily decreased through August and September, Ferrer reported Wednesday. Last week the average daily number of cases was 800, compared with over 2,000 just a month ago. Public Health will continue to watch this indicator closely because it may be artificially low due to reduced testing numbers seen over the last two weeks.

There are 804 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, 30% of them in the ICU. The number of daily hospitalizations has returned to levels seen early in the pandemic, at around 800 daily hospitalizations. We are hoping that over the Labor Day weekend holiday everyone continued to do their best to reduce transmission so we don’t experience another surge in hospitalizations a few weeks from now.

Test results are available for more than 2,477,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive.

L.A. County’s test positivity rate has averaged 3% for the past week. Just a month ago, in mid-August, this rate averaged 5%. A decreased test positivity rate is often a sign of reduced community transmission.

L.A. County continues to be in the State’s Tier 1, due to the current adjusted daily case rate of 8.1 cases per 100,000 residents.

To move to Tier 2, the county’s case rate needs to be fewer than 7 new cases a day per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.

The county’s test positivity rate is 3.2% which places the county in Tier 3 for this metric. However, the state places counties in the most restrictive tier when the metrics fall in two different tiers, so L.A. County remains in Tier 1 because of its daily case rate.

L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 31 new deaths reported today, 17 people who died were over the age of 80 years old, four people were between 65 and 79, and nine people were between 50 and 64.

Twenty-three people who died had underlying health conditions including 13 people over the age of 80, three people between 65 and 79, and seven people between 50 and 64. One death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Countywide, 92% of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Upon further investigation, 49 cases and one death reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4 4003

* 5 to 11 8684

* 12 to 17 10753

* 18 to 29 60217

* 30 to 49 83158

* 50 to 64 46818

* 65 to 79 18582

* over 80 8709

* Under Investigation 1474

L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 5,928 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 51% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 23% among White residents, 15% among Asian residents, 10% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Gaps Starting to Close

Data continue to show African American/Black, Latino/Latinx, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander residents and those in low-income communities continue to have disproportionate health outcomes.

The latest data show that over time our cases are decreasing across all groups and the gaps are starting to close.

At the mid-July peak, the average daily cases among Latino/Latinx residents were 200 cases per 100,000 people. This was four times higher than the rate for White residents at 50 cases per 100,000 people and five times higher than that of Asian residents’ 37 cases per 100,000 people. Case rates among African American/Black residents at 80 per 100,000 people during this time period were also far higher than that of White and Asian residents.

As of early September, the case rate for Latino/Latinx residents dropped to 40 cases per 100,000 people; while still twice that of White residents with a rate of 24 cases per 100,000 people, this is a significant narrowing of the gap. The case rate among African American/Black residents is now only slightly higher than that of White residents at 24 cases per 100,000 people. The case rate among Asian residents continue to be the lowest at about 10 cases per 100,000 people.

Public Health is also seeing decreases in deaths among races and ethnicity groups. During the July peak, the mortality rate among Latino/Latinx residents was 6 deaths per 100,000 people, four times that of white residents who had a mortality rate of 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people. The mortality rate among Black residents was 4 deaths per 100,000, and the mortality rate among Asian residents was 2.7 deaths per 100,000.

As of September 6, the mortality rate among Latino/Latinx residents decreased to 2 deaths per 100,000 people, twice that of white residents and Asian residents who both have a mortality rate of 1 death per 100,000. Similarly, the mortality rate among African American/Black residents decreased to around 1 death per 100,000 people.

Higher Death Rates Among Lower-Income Residents

L.A. County Public Health officials also continue to see higher mortality rates among people living in areas with fewer resources, when compared to mortality rates among people in the areas with the most resources.

During the peak, the mortality rate among people living in the areas with the fewest resources was 6.5 per 100,000 people, three times that of people living in high-resource areas.

In early September, the mortality rate among people living in areas with the fewest resources was 2.5 per 100,000 people, which is still almost three times that of people living in the highest-resource areas.

These are very important numbers to consider as we make decisions about the path forward over the next few months. We will need to be mindful of the impact of our re-openings and actions both across the county and among the people who are most affected by this pandemic, as we continue to work together to address the inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities that are essential for optimal health and well-being.

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.

Californians can go to covid19.ca.gov to find out where their county falls and what activities are allowable in each county.

California Testing

There have been 13,000,522 tests conducted in California, an increase of 72,352 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

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

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

The testing turnaround time dashboard PDF is updated weekly.

California Demographics

Overall, for adults 18 and older, Latinos, African Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are dying at disproportionately higher levels.

The proportion of COVID-19 deaths in African Americans is more than one-and-a-half times their population representation across all adult age categories. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but almost double between the proportion of COVID-19 deaths and their population representation.

More males are dying from COVID-19 than females, in line with national trends.

More information is available at COVID-19 Race and Ethnicity Data.

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 September 14, there have been 80 cases of MIS-C reported statewide, an increase of 7 over the previous week.

To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, CDPH is 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

Every person has a role to play. Protecting yourself and your family comes down to common sense:

* 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.

* Practicing social distancing

* 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

* 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 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.

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, to 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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