The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Wednesday confirmed 30 new deaths and 1,645 new cases of confirmed COVID-19, including 59 new cases among Santa Clarita Valley residents, and a new fatality in the city of Santa Clarita.

That brings the SCV’s totals to 6,423 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 66 deaths since the pandemic began.

While Wednesday’s tally is the highest number of new cases in a single day reported since late August, it is not indicative of a trend, officials said. Public Health will continue monitoring the number of new cases reported closely along with other key indicators.

To date, the department has identified 277,445 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 6,709 deaths.

Upon further investigation, 56 cases and two deaths reported earlier were not county residents.

“When we look at these numbers each day, we know that so many across the county are experiencing profound grief because they have lost a loved one or friend to COVID-19. Our hearts go out to you at this very difficult time,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

The 7-day average number of daily deaths has steadily declined from about 30 deaths a day at the end of August to about 15 deaths a day.

The county’s percent positivity or the percentage of total tests that are positive, has remained steady at a level close to 3% for several weeks.

For comparison, the percent positivity was around 8% in July. Public Health officials are hoping to continue to drive down this number.

Percent positivity is used to understand the extent of community spread and is a helpful early indicator when spread begins to increase.

There are 696 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide, and 28% of them are in the ICU. The number of daily hospitalizations has remained stable, with fewer than 800 daily hospitalizations since mid-September.

Testing results are available for more than 2,755,000 county residents, with 9% of all people testing positive.

California Wednesday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Tuesday, October 6, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 831,225 COVID-19 cases (up 2,764), with 16,228 deaths from the disease (up 51).

There are 2,323 confirmed hospitalizations and 881 ICU hospitalizations in the state, a slight upward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 2.4% and the 14-day positivity rate is 2.6%, also a slight downward trend.

As of October 6, local health departments have reported 40,265 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 190 deaths statewide.

There have been 15,556,706 COVID-19 tests conducted in California, an increase of 126,285 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

COVID Around the World: U.S. No. 1 in Cases, Deaths

Worldwide, 35,987,364 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 1,052,736 people have died as of 3:23 Wednesday afternoon Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Since the pandemic began, more than 7,542,059 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 211,532.

The United States has the world’s highest numbers of cases and deaths. By comparison, No. 2 Brazil’s death toll is 147,494. India, at No. 2 in cases, had confirmed 6,757,131 cases and 104,555 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Wednesday Update

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia on Friday reported its 25th COVID-19 death at the hospital since the pandemic began, according to spokesman Patrick Moody.

As of Wednesday, October 7, of the 8,845 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 927 tested positive, 10,419 were negative, 17 were pending, 9 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (unchanged from last week), and a total of 273 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far.

Henry Mayo releases statistics weekly, generally on Wednesdays, unless there is a drastic change in the number of cases or a COVID-related death has been confirmed, 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.

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update

As of 8 p.m. Monday, October 5, the latest update to its COVID-19 data dashboard, L.A. County Public Health reported another death in the city of Santa Clarita.

Of the 66 SCV residents who have died since the pandemic began, 55 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 6,423 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 3,681

Castaic: 2,101 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 178

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 151

Val Verde: 87

Acton: 74

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 48

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 28

Agua Dulce: 28

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 14

Bouquet Canyon: 9

Elizabeth Lake: 7

Sand Canyon: 7

Saugus/Canyon Country: 6

Lake Hughes: 4

*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.

L.A. County Remains in State’s Tier 1

California incorporated an additional metric to its “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” on Tuesday. Because most counties, including L.A. County, have significant differences in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, it is important to not only look at COVID-19 indicators across the entire county, but also to understand the experiences among different racial and ethnic groups and people who live in areas with unequal access to resources.

The metric calculates the test positivity rate for those areas within counties that are less advantaged and compares this rate to the overall county test positivity rate. The goal is to have a reduction in disease transmission in all communities.

Currently, L.A. County continues to be in Tier 1, the most restrictive tier, because the county’s adjusted case rate is 7.4 new cases per 100,000 people. Both test positivity rates meet the threshold for Tier 3; the overall test positivity rate is 2.8%, and the test positivity rate in our lowest-resourced areas is 4.6%.

Voting Safely in L.A. County

“As with all activities we do through the pandemic, it is always best to plan early and try to take maximum precautions,” Ferrer said.

“We are less than a month away from election day and we’re really lucky to take advantage of the fact that everyone gets a ballot by mail to fill out in the privacy of their own home and send in at no cost,” she said. “This is one of the safest ways to cast your vote this November. If you prefer or need to go and vote at a voting site, the county voting sites will be implementing protocols to create as much safety as possible for voters and poll workers.

“If you’re a person with an underlying health condition, this is the time to think through how to reduce the risk to yourself and minimize your exposures by either using that mail-in ballot or going to one of the voting sites at a time when it’s not crowded,” Ferrer said.

Sectors Reopening — with Restrictions

Public Health has updated the Health Officer Order to allow for outdoor dining at non-restaurant breweries and wineries serving a meal as long as the business follows all requirements for infection control and distancing that are detailed in our protocol.

Indoor shopping malls are allowed to reopen as of Wednesday with occupancy limited to 25% capacity, and with all food courts and all common areas closed.

More L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 30 new deaths reported today, nine people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, 11 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, five people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old.

Eighteen people who died had underlying health conditions including seven people over the age of 80, seven people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and four people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena and one death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

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

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

* 0 to 4 4400

* 5 to 11 9566

* 12 to 17 11860

* 18 to 29 65243

* 30 to 49 89901

* 50 to 64 50652

* 65 to 79 20088

* over 80 9305

* Under Investigation 2924

More L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Ninety-two percent of the people who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 6,316 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.

African American/Black and Latino/Latinx residents and those who live in high poverty areas in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The county is focused on understanding and eliminating gaps in COVID-19 outcomes and routinely report on data by race and ethnicity as well as area poverty in order to understand what gaps exist and our progress closing the gaps.

The county has made progress in closing the gaps. At the end of September, death rates for all races and ethnicities are lower than they’ve been since the beginning of July.

Latino/Latinx residents experience three times the rate of death when compared to White residents; this is a decline from Latino/Latinx residents experiencing four times higher than that of white residents during the July peak.

Black residents have seen deaths fluctuate over time, and now are about equal to the mortality rates for Asians. The mortality rate among people living in areas with the highest levels of poverty remains four times that of people living in the lowest levels of poverty.

We need to continue to work hard to close these gaps by addressing 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
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 September 20 to September 26, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.2 days. During this same time period, 69 percent of patients received test results in 1 day and 92 percent received them within two days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

As of September 22, California’s testing capacity and turnaround time have improved. As a result and until further notice, all four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020, will have equal priority for testing.

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 October 2, 103 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, an increase of 5 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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