The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 91 additional deaths and 20,866 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 66,432 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Several LA County COVID-19 metrics are showing decline, including daily cases, daily case rate, positivity rate, and hospitalizations. Although these declines are a positive sign, residents should not take them as an indication to forgo common sense protective measures that will allow these declines to continue. Utilizing public health safety measures will drive down cases, which will ultimately end staffing shortages, reduce workplace and school outbreaks, and most importantly, keep residents from getting seriously ill and dying.

Today, Public Health confirmed 91 additional deaths and 20,866 new cases of COVID-19. Of the 91 new deaths reported today, one person who died was between the ages of 0-4, one person was between the ages of 18 and 29, eight people were between the ages of 30 and 49, 14 were between the ages of 50 and 64, 34 were between the ages of 65-79, and 30 were over the age of 80 years old. Of the 91 newly reported deaths, 79 had underlying conditions. Information on the three deaths reported by the City of Long Beach is available at www.longbeach.gov To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 28,630.

Public Health has identified a total 2,560,768 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 13.6%.

There are 4,534 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 10,947,900 individuals, with 21% of people testing positive.

Two Year Anniversary Sees Youngest Death In L.A.

On the two-year anniversary of LA County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, Public Health reports an additional 91 deaths due to COVID-19, which tragically includes a 15-month-old. This is the youngest resident to die of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and a stark reminder that the virus can cause devastating outcomes among those most vulnerable, including young children not yet eligible for vaccinations.

To protect school-aged children, Public Health and LA County schools have implemented safety measures that are resulting in fewer cases among students and staff. For the week ending January 23rd, schools conducted 555,879 tests and confirmed 40,694 positive tests, with a test positivity of 7%. This is a 33% decrease from the prior week, when test positivity was 11%. Of note, most of these tests (70%) are conducted by LAUSD alone. In the week ending January 23rd, LAUSD conducted approximately 389,000 tests, detected 30,379 positive tests, and had a test positivity of 7.8%.

Despite declines in cases, the number of school outbreaks increased reflecting the highly infectious Omicron variant.  Between Jan. 16-22, there were 11 new school outbreaks opened (9 in elementary schools, 1 in a high school, and 1 in youth sports). These numbers remain relatively low given the high numbers of new cases and suggest that schools continue to successfully implement public health measures that reduce spread.

The comprehensive approach utilized by schools to reduce transmission includes school-based vaccine clinics, testing, and upgraded mask requirements for staff to help maintain a safe school environment. This week there are nearly 190 school-based vaccine clinics scheduled, offering first, second and third doses.  Public Health is also distributing an additional nearly 1 million home test kits to school districts over the next 2 weeks, facilitating increased response testing capacity at many schools.

Parents are reminded that the COVID-19 vaccine is the very best way to protect their child from COVID-19 and that already more than 15 million children ages five and older have safely received the vaccine across this country. For more information about the vaccine, parents can visit VaccineLACounty.com or VacunateLosAngeles.com.

“As we mark the two-year anniversary of the first case detected in LA County, I send my heartfelt condolences and wishes of healing to the family who suffered the devastating loss of their small child, and to the countless people who have lost a loved one to this pandemic,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Prioritizing and ensuring safety at schools during a surge is only possible if all those at the school commit to complying fully with public health measures; this cannot be accomplished by staff alone. Wearing a high- grade face mask both indoors and outdoors when around others is absolutely essential for staff and highly recommended for students, as all evidence points to the effectiveness of well-fitting high-quality masks in limiting spread of virus particles,” Ferrer continued. “Frequent testing can help identify asymptomatic individuals before they have a lot of opportunities to transmit to others, so parents are urged to allow their children to participate in school testing programs. And everyone infected and exposed will need to follow the school-based isolation and quarantine rules that are meant to reduce school outbreaks. Without everyone working together to minimize exposures, there could be more disruptions affecting school communities across the county.”

For information on where you can get tested, please visit www.covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/.

For updated isolation and quarantine guidance, please visit www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are recommended for everyone 5 years old and older to help protect against COVID-19. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments are not needed at all Public Health vaccination sites and many community sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

To find a vaccination site near you, or to make an appointment, please visit:

www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or

www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported Wednesday One test pending, 73 patients in the hospital, and a total of 1,993 patients who have been treated and discharged since the pandemic began, and one additional deceased, bringing the total to 206, spokesman Patrick Moody confirmed.

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 generally lags 48 hours behind.

William S. Hart Union High School District COVID-19 Dashboard

The William S. Hart Union High School District provides ongoing information to our community regarding COVID-19 cases while maintaining confidentiality for our students and staff. The COVID-19 case data below is updated regularly to indicate any currently confirmed COVID-19 positive case in staff members or students by school site. The data below is specific to individuals who have been physically present on a District campus within 14 days of receiving a positive COVID-19 test. The District, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, conducts contact tracing and directly notifies and provides resources for parents of students identified as close contacts (6 feet or less for 15 cumulative minutes or more).

Note: To see the communication process in the event of a positive COVID-19 case, visit https://www.hartdistrict.org/apps/pages/covid-19dashboard.

Student Dashboard

Staff Dashboard

Santa Clarita Valley Wednesday Update

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard showed no additional deaths leaving the total number of COVID-19 deaths since the onset of the pandemic to 389.

The following is the community breakdown of the 389 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

Santa Clarita: 317

Castaic: 25

Acton: 14

Stevenson Ranch: 9

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 9

Agua Dulce: 5

Val Verde: 3

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Elizabeth Lake: 1

Newhall: 1

unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

Lake Hughes: 0 (**revised from 1)

SCV Cases

Of the 66,432 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 49,426

* Castaic: 6,614

Stevenson Ranch: 3,630

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 2,342

Acton: 1,347

Val Verde: 757

Agua Dulce: 716

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 618

Saugus (unincorporated portion):  288

Elizabeth Lake: 181

Bouquet Canyon: 137

Lake Hughes: 129

Saugus/Canyon Country: 83

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 81

Sand Canyon: 39

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 32

Placerita Canyon: 12

*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.

California Wednesday

Statewide COVID-19 Data

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are largely occurring among unvaccinated populations. See the data for unvaccinated and vaccinated cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Vaccinations

– 68,875,337 total vaccines administered.

– 81.6percent of the eligible population (5+) has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

– 126,635 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccination (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Cases

– California has 7,569,687 confirmed cases to date.

– Wednesday’s average case count is 87,719 (average daily case count over 7 days).

Testing

– The testing positivity rate is 18.7 percent (average rate over 7 days).

Hospitalizations

– There are 15,279 hospitalizations statewide.

– There are 2,609 ICU patients statewide.

– Unvaccinated people were 13 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 (Week of Jan. 9, 2022).

Deaths

– There have been 78,316  COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

– COVID-19 claims the lives of 52Californians each day (average daily death count over 7 days).

– Unvaccinated people were 22 times more likely to die from COVID-19 (wee of Jan.2 2022).

Health Care Workers

California Public Health has not released updated numbers on local health departments since Jan. 6. The last reported update had 136,816 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 540 deaths statewide.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of Jan.9 to Jan. 15, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.9 days. During this same time period, 51 percent of patients received test results in one day and 68 percent received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of Jan. 24, there have been 790 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported statewide. 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.

Keep California Healthy

Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

– Get vaccinated when it’s your turn. Californians age 16+ are eligible to make an appointment.

– If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.

– If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

– Keep gatherings small and outdoors and follow state and local public health guidance.

– Wear a mask and get the most out of masking – an effective mask has both good fit and good filtration.

– Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

– Delay non-essential travel outside of California until you are fully vaccinated. Follow California’s travel advisory.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work and school if you feel ill.

– Add your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

– Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.

Additional data and udpates:

Tracking COVID-19 in California

State Dashboard – Daily COVID-19 data

County Map – Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity

Data and Tools – Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists, and the public

Blueprint for a Safer Economy– Data for establishing tier status

COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data – Weekly updated Race & Ethnicity data

Cases and Deaths by Age Group – Weekly updated Deaths by Age Group data

Health Equity Dashboard – See how COVID-19 highlights existing inequities in health

Tracking Variants – Data on the variants California is currently monitoring

Safe Schools for All Hub – Information about safe in-person instruction

School Districts Reopening Map – data on public schools and reported outbreaks

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 can also call 2-1-1.

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.

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.