The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday 1,324 new cases of COVID-19 and 57 new deaths due to the virus countywide, with a total of 998 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

The county reported 20 of the new cases were in the SCV, but no new deaths. To date, 18 people have died of COVID-19 in the valley (15 in Santa Clarita, 1 in Acton, 1 in Castaic, and 1 in a community not yet named).

To date, Public Health has identified 40,857 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 1,970 deaths. Ninety-two percent of people who died had underlying health conditions.

California has 84,057 confirmed cases and 3,436 deaths from COVID-19 as of May 19, including 8,633 positive cases and 46 deaths among healthcare workers, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update
Of the 998 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 609

Castaic: 283 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility)

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 34

Stevenson Ranch: 28

Val Verde: 15

Acton: 10

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 7

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 4

Agua Dulce: 4

Elizabeth Lake 3

Lake Hughes 1

Henry Mayo Wednesday Update
Henry Mayo Newhall 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, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

Moody said as of Wednesday, May 20, of the 1,332 persons tested at Henry Mayo to date, 197 tested positive, 1,245 were negative, 35 were pending and 14 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care. A total of 68 COVID-19 patients have been discharged so far.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers are due to some patients being tested more than once, he said.

Eight of the SCV’s 18 fatalities to date have occurred at Henry Mayo, Moody confirmed Monday.

L.A. County Demographics
L.A. County Public Health reports that of the 57 new deaths, 30 people who died were over the age of 65 years old; 12 people who died were between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.

Thirty-two people had underlying health conditions including 24 people over the age of 65 years old, six people between the ages of 41 to 65 years old, and two people between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.

Ten deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach and three deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 1,826 people (99 percent of the cases); 39% of deaths occurred among Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 18% among Asian residents, 12% among African American residents, 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

As of Wednesday, 5,966 people who tested positive for COVID-19 (15% of positive cases) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There are 1,531 people who are currently hospitalized, 28% of these people are in the ICU and 19% are on ventilators.

Testing capacity continues to increase in L.A. County, with testing results available for nearly 380,000 individuals and 9% of people testing positive.

Serology Testing – USC, LRW Group
“Many people across the county have lost loved ones to COVID-19. To those who are experiencing devastating loss, we share in your sorrow, and you are in our thoughts and prayers,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We are continuing to do serology testing with samples of L.A. County residents. This testing allows us to better understand how many people have been exposed to COVID-19 and how the virus is showing up in our communities.”

Preliminary findings from the second community prevalence study done in partnership with the University of Southern California and the LRW Group suggests there was not much spread of the virus in the general community population during the time between this study and the study conducted in April.

A device for separating plasma from whole blood.

One thousand and fourteen L.A. County adults were tested between May 8 and May 12 using serology testing. Based on results of the second round of testing, the research team estimates that approximately 2.1% of the County’s adult population has antibodies to the virus.

This compares to 4.1% among the 863 adults tested in the April study. The difference between the two results was not statistically significant and could be due to random variation. However, other factors could have contributed to the lower prevalence including different test site locations and recruitment efforts for a higher number of Latinos, Asians, and African Americans.

Similar to the previous study, men were more likely than women to have been infected; 2.8% among men and 1.4% among women. There were only slight differences in positivity rates by race and ethnicity.

However, there were differences in positivity rates by income levels, where 2.8% of people with a lower income level and 1% of people with a higher income level who were tested were positive. Although this round did not include the highest risk groups, Public Health is planning on surveying those living in congregate settings (e.g., skilled nursing facilities, homeless shelters, jails) or persons experiencing homelessness and living on the streets and is also planning a subsequent survey that will include children.

Current Health Officer Orders — Reopenings
Current Health Officer Orders allow for retailers and manufacturers, select recreational facilities, and beaches to reopen and require specific higher-risk businesses to remain closed.

Retailers remain closed to public entry and beaches are open for active recreation only. While many outdoor spaces are open, public and private gatherings of any number of people outside of a single household unit are still not permitted.

Everyone must continue to follow distancing and infection control protocols, stay at least six feet apart and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household.

L.A. County is in stage two of the five-stage Roadmap to Recovery and until the final stage five is reached, Health Officer Orders and directives will continue to ensure that we slow the spread of COVID-19 to prevent an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases at healthcare facilities.

Best Protection
The best protection against COVID-19 is to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing (especially by staying at home) and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household.

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.

L.A. County Interactive Dashboard
An interactive dashboard is available that provides an overview on COVID-19 testing, cases and deaths along with maps and graphs showing testing, cases and death data by community poverty level, age, sex and race/ethnicity. The Health Officer Order, 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.

Visit Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard here.

Here’s the L.A. County Public Health incident report for Wednesday, May 20, 2020.

[Open .pdf in new window]

California Wednesday Update
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.

– Hospitalized patients

– Symptomatic and asymptomatic healthcare workers, first responders, and other social service employees

– Symptomatic individuals age 65 and older or symptomatic individuals of any age with chronic medical conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 illness

– Individuals who are tested as part of disease control efforts in high-risk settings

– Asymptomatic residents and employees of congregate living facilities when needed to prevent disease transmission

– Symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in essential occupations such as grocery store and food supply workers, utility workers and public employees

– Other individuals with symptoms consistent with COVID-19

As of May 19, there have been 1,380,120 tests conducted in California and reported to the California Department of Public Health. This represents an increase of 40,804 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 25 state and county health labs currently testing.

California Demographics
Health outcomes are affected by forces including structural racism, poverty and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African American Californians.

The differences in health outcomes related to COVID-19 are most stark in COVID-19 deaths. We have nearly complete data on race and ethnicity for COVID-19 deaths, and we are seeing the following trends.

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.

Your Actions Save Lives

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

– Staying home except for essential needs/activities.

– Practicing social distancing.

– 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) and may have had contact with a person with COVID-19, or recently traveled to countries with apparent community spread, call your health care provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.

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. Visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) in alifornia and California Department of Public Health COVID-19 Guidance.

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 may also call 2-1-1.