The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Wednesday confirmed 1,260 new cases of COVID-19 and 34 new deaths due to the virus countywide, with a total of 2,912 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began, 11 more cases than Tuesday.

In the SCV, 30 people have died of the virus to date, according to Public Health records — 24 resided in the city of Santa Clarita, 2 in Acton, 2 in Castaic, 1 in unincorporated Valencia, and 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon.

Countywide, Public Health has reported 89,490 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 3,205 deaths to date. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

Statewide, as of June 23, the California Department of Public Health has confirmed a total of 190,222 cases (up 7,149 from June 22) and 5,632 deaths (up 52) from COVID-19. Currently, there are 4,095 confirmed hospitalizations and 1,268 ICU hospitalizations. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

As of June 23, local health departments have reported 13,737 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 85 deaths statewide.

California’s positivity rate – a key indicator of community spread – is trending modestly upward in the 14-day average. Hospitalization rates over the long-term are showing a slight uptick in the 14-day average.

California conducted 96,000 COVID-19 tests Tuesday, continuing the state’s trend of surpassing its own goal to test 60,000 people a day.

As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, an increase in the number of positive cases has been expected – increasing the importance of positivity rates to find signs of community spread.

Still, the 7,149 positive COVID-19 tests reported is a record for a 24-hour period in California. In his news conference Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom stressed the record was not necessarily unexpected in the wake of the state economy reopening and the massive racial justice protests in recent weeks.

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update
Of the 2,912 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 1,005

Castaic: 1,734 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 51

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 40

Val Verde: 25

Acton: 20

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 12

Agua Dulce: 11

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 5

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 3

Bouquet Canyon: 1

Lake Hughes: 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 Newhall Hospital reported its 13th COVID-related death on Wednesday, June 17, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

The hospital is now releasing numbers on a weekly basis (Wednesdays) unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a death has been confirmed, Moody said.

As of Wednesday, June 24, of the 2,725 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 282 tested positive, 2,766 were negative, 50 were pending and 13 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. A total of 99 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far.

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

L.A. County Demographics

Twenty-eight people who died were over 65 years old, four people who died were between 41 and 65, and one was between 18 and 40. Ten people had underlying health conditions including nine people over 65 and one person 41 to 65 years old. One death was reported by the city of Long Beach.

Upon further investigation, 32 cases reported earlier were not L.A. County residents. There are 1,556 people currently hospitalized, 26% of them in the ICU, and 18% on ventilators.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 2,982 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 42% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

Public Health continues to assess indicators on the Recovery Dashboard to understand how COVID-19 is affecting communities and the capacity to treat people who may become seriously ill.

“To everyone who is facing the sorrow of losing a loved one to COVID-19, we are thinking of you every day and we are so sorry for your loss,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

L.A. County Testing; Skilled Nursing Facilities
Testing capacity continues to increase in L.A. County, with testing results available for more than 990,000 individuals and 8% of people testing positive.

All 315 skilled nursing facilities in L.A. County, not including the cities Long Beach and Pasadena, have completed testing of all residents and staff with support from Public Health, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the City of Los Angeles.

This includes facilities that have had outbreaks and facilities that have not yet had outbreaks. Of the more than 35,000 test results currently available from among both residents and staff, 5% tested positive for COVID-19 and 82% of the people testing positive were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

Public Health will continue to assist skilled nursing facilities meet the state’s requirements for routine and surveillance testing, respond to outbreaks and provide guidance on the use of personal protective equipment and communications with employees, residents, family members, and other key partners.

“We continue to work with partners and skilled nursing facilities to make sure they are as safe as possible for both the people who live there and the people who work there,” Ferrer said.

“As community spread is increasing in our communities, adherence to infection control practices remains critically important in these facilities,” Ferrer said. “Efforts include ensuring that staff are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and everyone who can is using a face covering when around others. To date, Public Health has distributed over 4.8 million masks and almost 1 million N-95 masks to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.”

Best Protections
Because this virus has not changed and is still easily transmitted among people in contact with each other, the best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing, and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household.

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, or until they receive a negative result.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a contact tracer 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.

People who have underlying health conditions remain at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, so it will continue to be very important for the county’s vulnerable residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and medicine delivered, and to call their providers immediately if they have even mild symptoms.

The 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.

Here’s L.A. County’s Incident Update for Wednesday, June 24, 2020:

[Open .pdf in new window]

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 about double their population representation across all adult age categories.

For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, overall numbers are low, but there is nearly a four-fold difference 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.

Testing in California
As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, the California Department of Public Health is working to expand access to COVID-19 testing. Testing should be used for medical evaluation of persons with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as for efforts by public health agencies and essential employers to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

As of June 23, there have been 3,592,899 tests conducted in California and reported to the California Department of Public Health. This represents an increase of 95,970 tests over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

These numbers include data from commercial, private and academic labs, including Quest, LabCorp, Kaiser, University of California and Stanford, and the the 25 state and county health labs currently testing.

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

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

* 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.

California COVID-19 Data Portal
The state has launched a new, user-friendly data portal at COVID-19 Statewide Update that tracks COVID-19 cases statewide and by county, gender, age and ethnicity. The portal also outlines statewide hospitalizations and testing efforts. The data presented on the portal will be updated daily and will include additional information as it is available.

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.