The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 40 new deaths and 5,987 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 countywide, as the total number of Santa Clarita Valley residents diagnosed with the virus topped 10,000.

The SCV has now tallied 10,043 confirmed COVID-19 cases among residents — 111 new cases reported since Tuesday — and 83 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Public Health data.

To date, Public Health has counted 7,740 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 414,185 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. county. Upon further investigation, 198 cases reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Record L.A. County Hospitalizations; Daily Cases, Deaths Surge

Public Health officials Wednesday confirmed the highest-ever daily number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide. The average daily number of people hospitalized has increased by 94% in just two weeks.

Right now, 2,439 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing Tuesday’s high of 2,316 people. Of those hospitalized patients, 24% are in the ICU.

Since November 9, average daily deaths have increased by 92%. This past week, average daily COVID-19 deaths climbed to 38.

Since early November, average daily cases have increased by 225%, and in the past week and a half, Public Health officials have seen this average jump to more than 5,300 cases each day.

“These numbers are devasting, and our deepest condolences go out to everyone who is mourning a loved one or friend who has passed away from COVID-19. We are so sorry for your loss,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

Daily Test Positivity Rate Spike

The county’s daily test positivity rate has also spiked significantly, up to 13.0%. The test positivity rate was 3.9% on November 1.

Increased COVID-19 transmission has had a cascading impact on specific populations. Since early November, weekly cases among healthcare workers increased by 71%, weekly new outbreaks at worksites increased by 172%, and weekly new cases among people residing in skilled nursing facilities increased by 89%.

Cases at schools, both among staff and students, increased 224% since early November.

Testing results are available for more than 3,780,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive for COVID-19.

‘Terrifying Increases’

“We are seeing terrifying increases and numbers in L.A. County that can only be turned around if everyone — businesses and individuals — carefully use the tools we have to slow the spread: wearing a face covering, distancing, staying away from crowds and gatherings, and following all the business protocols to protect workers and customers,” Ferrer said.

“There are no activities where people shouldn’t be wearing a face covering if they are outside their home except for swimming,” she said. “Everywhere people go they should be able to keep at least 6 feet away from others and there should be no crowding. This virus is relentless. It will continue to be relentless until we can vaccinate the millions of residents and workers calling L.A. County home. And while there is a bright light at the end of this very dark tunnel, we are not there yet.

“We are now at the worst point we have experienced thus far in this pandemic, and now is the time to take every single precaution to protect ourselves and others,” Ferrer said. “Requirements and restrictions work in slowing the spread of the virus. Please commit today and through the next few months to being the solution to this terrible pandemic.”

See more L.A. County updates later in this report.

California Wednesday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Tuesday, December 1, the California Department of Public Health confirmed a total of 1,245,948 COVID-19 cases (up 20,759), with 19,324 deaths from the disease (up 113) since the pandemic began.

There are 8,517 confirmed hospitalizations and 2,006 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing a sharp upward trend.

California’s 7-day positivity rate is 7.3% and the 14-day positivity rate is 6.9%, continuing a sharp upward trend.

As case numbers continue to rise statewide, the number of patients who will have serious outcomes will also increase.

As of December 1, local health departments have reported 53,409 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 218 deaths statewide.

There have been 24,299,126 COVID-19 tests conducted in California, an increase of 137,813 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

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

See more California info later in this report.

Screencap from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 dashboard, showing COVID cases in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, December 2, 2020.

COVID Worldwide: U.S. Leader with Deaths Nearing 275K

Worldwide, 64,326,880 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 1,488,992 people have died of the virus as of 3:26 p.m. Wednesday Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., more than 13,881,620 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. More than 4 million of those cases were diagnosed in November. New cases and hospitalizations continue at all-time record highs. The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has now surpassed 272,820.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday modified its 14-day quarantine guidance to OK options for 7-10-day quarantine. Read more here.

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 173,817, and No. 3 in cases with 6,386,787. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 9,499,413 confirmed cases and 138,122 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Wednesday Update

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported its 38th death due to COVID-19 on Monday, Nov. 30, following two reported deaths the previous Tuesday and Wednesday, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

As of Wednesday, Dec. 2, of the 12,728 people tested at Henry Mayo to date, 1,463 tested positive, 15,367 were negative, 46 were pending, 52 patients were hospitalized in a dedicated unit receiving ICU-level care (same as last Wednesday), and a total of 414 COVID-19 patients have been treated and discharged so far, Moody said.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital releases complete statistics weekly, generally on Wednesdays, unless a new death occurs, he said.

Discrepancies in the testing numbers at the hospital are due to some patients being tested multiple times.

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

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update

As of 8 p.m. Monday, November 30, the latest update to its COVID-19 data dashboard, L.A. County Public Health reported a total of 83 deaths in the Santa Clarita Valley since the pandemic began.

Of those 83 SCV residents who have died, 68 lived in Santa Clarita, 5 in Castaic, 3 in Acton, 3 in Stevenson Ranch, 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, 1 in unincorporated Canyon Country, 1 in Val Verde, and 1 in unincorporated Valencia.

Of the 10,043 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 6,509

Castaic: 2,434 (includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 324

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 250

Val Verde: 122

Acton: 122

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 65

Agua Dulce: 62

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 50

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 36

Bouquet Canyon: 16

Saugus/Canyon Country: 15

Elizabeth Lake: 16

Lake Hughes: 12

Sand Canyon: 7

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 3

*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.

More L.A. County Demographics: Age

Of the 40 new deaths reported today, 22 people that passed away were over the age of 80 years old, eight people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, six 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.

Twenty-eight people who died had underlying health conditions including 17 people over the age of 80 years old, six people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, and five people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old. Two deaths were reported by the City of Long Beach.

Ninety-three percent of the people who have died from COVID-19 to date had underlying health conditions. Hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes are the most common underlying health conditions among people hospitalized with COVID-19. Many people have multiple underlying health conditions.

Cases by Age Group (Los Angeles County only — excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)
Young people are driving the surge of the virus’s spread with disastrous results for our elderly.

In the last month, the case rate for residents age 18 to 29 years old has more than doubled, from 11.5 cases per 100,000 people to 25 cases per 100,000 people.

The second-highest group, residents ages 30 through 49 years old, has nearly doubled from 9.4 cases to 18 cases per 100,000 people.

* 0 to 4 7265

* 5 to 11 15869

* 12 to 17 19687

* 18 to 29 98282

* 30 to 49 134324

* 50 to 64 74574

* 65 to 79 29135

* over 80 12062

* Under Investigation 2555

More L.A. County Demographics: Race/Ethnicity

Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 7,305 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 52% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 24% among white residents, 14% among Asian residents, 9% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races.

As cases surge, L.A. County is experiencing higher rates of disproportionality. The gaps between race and ethnicity groups that closed in September have now dramatically widened, particularly for Latino/Latinx residents compared to other groups, though all groups are experiencing increases.

Latino/Latinx residents are now experiencing a 7-day cumulative rate of 270 new cases per 100,000 people. This is more than twice that of white residents, the group with the second-highest case rate of about 125 cases per 100,000 people per day. African American/Black residents are experiencing about 112 new cases per 100,000 people and Asian residents experience around 80 new cases per 100,000 people.

African American/Black and Latino/Latinx residents are also experiencing an alarming increase in deaths. The death rate among Latino/Latinx residents has increased from 1.5 deaths per 100,000 people to 3 deaths per 100,000 people. The death rate for African American/Black residents has increased from less than 1 death per 100,000 people to nearly 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people.

We 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.

The root causes that contribute to disproportionality have not disappeared. With the increases, we need to double down on strategies that can right now make a difference.

Protections must be the priority of employers for essential workers at manufacturing and food processing plants, at grocery and retail stores, and those on the frontlines keeping health care facilities open and transportation and energy systems working.

Since we have increased our understanding of how to protect workers, the way forward is clear: Everyone needs to follow the rules and do the right thing.

Community Health Worker Outreach Initiative

As transmission increases in L.A. County, our Community Health Worker Outreach Initiative remains a vital part of our outreach to highly impacted communities. The Initiative coordinates and mobilizes community health workers across the county to conduct healing-informed, grassroots community outreach. Community health workers provide accurate and up-to-date information regarding COVID-19. As of November 29, 240 Community Health Workers completed over 14,000 total outreaches that include general COVID-19 safety messaging, information on the COVID-19 Safety Compliance Certification Program, and messaging developed for faith communities.

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 Gavin 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 November 15 to November 21, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.4 days. During this same time period, 59 percent of patients received test results in 1 day and 86 percent received them within 2 days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

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 November 30, 138 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, two more than 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

California is experiencing the fastest increase in cases we have seen yet – faster than what we experienced at the outset of the pandemic and this summer. If COVID-19 continues to spread at this rate, it could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes.

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.

* Following the limited Stay at Home Order that requires all non-essential work and activities to stop between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in counties in the purple tier. The order took effect at 10 p.m. Saturday, November 21, and will remain in effect until 5 a.m. December 21.

* Staying close to home, avoiding non-essential travel, and practicing self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival if you leave the state.

* Keeping gatherings small, short, and outdoors and limiting them to those 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

* 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, 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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