The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 79 new cases and no new deaths from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley within the last week.

Public Health is now reporting COVID-19 data every Thursday. This is the most recent data from May 18.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 36,306, case totals to 3,743,266 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 99,479 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 remain at 557.

Public Health Will Continue Robust COVID-19 Monitoring in Los Angeles County Amid Changes in Federal COVID-19 Data Reporting

Amid changes in federal COVID-19 data reporting, the Public Health will maintain robust collection and monitoring of local COVID-19 information as part of its continuing commitment to pandemic preparedness, with the goal of providing residents and businesses with up-to-date information to guide appropriate protective strategies.

While the emergency phase of the pandemic has ended, Public Health remains focused on protecting vulnerable residents and ensuring the county remains prepared for future potential changes in transmission due to the constantly evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus.

Timely local data will be used to identify trends and provide appropriate guidance and resources, giving residents the tools to make informed decisions about personal and community risk when needed. Public Health will utilize both the CDC’s hospital admission levels and guidance to inform Los Angeles County’s local public health response.

In alignment with CDC, Public Health views hospitalization data as an important metric to track severity of illness and capacity of the health care system. Because hospitalization data is a lagging indicator, meaning it may take a few weeks of increased transmission for the count of hospitalized patients to increase, Public Health will also monitor other measures that reflect transmission levels.

To help detect increases in transmissions as early as possible, Public Health monitors and reports weekly on COVID-19 case counts, wastewater levels, and the percent of COVID-related emergency department visits.

In addition, Public Health’s COVID-19 monitoring will include tracking an additional seven Early Alert Signals that indicate the possibility of increases in rates of transmission and/or increased illness severity. These Early Alert Signals include metrics on outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities and settings serving people experiencing homelessness, underscoring the importance of continuing to closely monitor COVID-19 outcomes in vulnerable and higher-risk populations. The public can follow this information at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDresponseplan.

Vaccines remain one of the best tools individuals can use to protect themselves from severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. Vaccines remain free and easily accessible in Los Angeles County. Everyone ages six months and older should have at least one dose of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine which provides substantial protection against newer Omicron strains. Residents can visit VaccinateLACounty.com or VacunateLosAngeles.com (en español) to find a vaccination location near them.

For residents who have difficulties leaving their home, Public Health offers free in-home COVID-19 vaccine and booster appointments. Appointments may be booked at ph.lacounty.gov/vaxathome, ph.lacounty.gov/vacunacionencasa (en español) or by calling the Public Health COVID-19 Call Center at 1-833-540-0473.

Public Health’s Call Center also connects eligible residents to free telehealth to get COVID-19 medications, information, and other resources. Residents are encouraged to call 1-833-540-0473, available daily between 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., to access these services.

This week’s sequencing data shows XBB.1.5 remains the dominant strain in Los Angeles County, accounting for 81% of sequenced specimens for the week ending April 22. The second most dominant strains were XBB.1.9.1 and XBB.1.16, each accounting for 5% of sequenced specimens. L.A. County has had 19 confirmed cases of XBB.1.16 and data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that XBB.1.16 makes up 12% of cases in California and surrounding states.

The 7-day average number of COVID hospitalizations is 222 this week. Reported weekly deaths dropped to 20 deaths reported this week, which may reflect a data reporting issue.

Public Health is now reporting COVID-19 data weekly. The following table shows the weekly reported case counts, average number of daily hospitalizations and weekly reported death counts in Los Angeles County over the past four weeks.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

COVID-19 Locations & Demographics (data by demographic characteristics and geography, active outbreaks, and citations)

 – COVID-19 Response Plan

 – COVID-19 Vaccinations

 – Skilled Nursing Facility Metrics

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

 – Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/

– California Department of Public Health: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019.aspx

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

– CDC Spanishhttps://espanol.cdc.gov/enes/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

– World Health Organization https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

– LA County residents can also call 2-1-1

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

Since the State of Emergency has been lifted, the William S. Hart Union High School District will no longer be posting dashboard information.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported no additional deaths from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley, keeping the total number of deaths in the SCV at 557.

NOTE: As of Dec. 20, 2022, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health switched to a new geocoding process to improve the accuracy and completeness of geocoded data. Geocoding is the process of assigning an address to specific geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude). As a result, approximately 1,500 cases (0.04%) were removed from the cumulative count as they were determined to be out of jurisdiction with the improved geocoding. The switch to this improved process also resulted in minor changes to cumulative case/death counts by Supervisor District, Service Planning Area, city/community, and area poverty categories.

The following is the community breakdown per L.A. County’s dashboard:

Santa Clarita: 455

Castaic: 30 (revised from 33)

Acton: 18 (revised from 19)

Stevenson Ranch: 18

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 11

Agua Dulce: 7

Val Verde: 6

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Lake Hughes: 2

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Newhall: 1

Unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

SCV Cases

Of the 99,479 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 73,518

Castaic: 9,623

Stevenson Ranch: 5,993

Canyon Country: 3,766

Acton: 2,014

Val Verde: 1,222

Agua Dulce: 994

Valencia: 935

Saugus: 346

Elizabeth Lake: 288

Bouquet Canyon: 206

Lake Hughes: 203

Saugus/Canyon Country: 135

Newhall: 105

Sand Canyon: 63

San Francisquito: 44

Placerita Canyon: 24

*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 Thursday By the Numbers

With the recent end of the California COVID-19 State of Emergency, CDPH will sunset weekly COVID-19 data news releases. All data will continue to be updated regularly on the state’s COVID-19 data dashboard on Thursdays.​

As of May 18, 2023, California has confirmed a total of 11,251,994 COVID-19 cases and 101,854 deaths.

Vaccines Administered updated May 18, 2023 at 9:36 AM, with data from May 17.

Cases, Deaths, and Tests updated May 18, 2023 at 9:36 AM, with data from May 16.

For more California data, click [here].