The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 200 new cases and no additional deaths from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley within the last week.

Public Health is now reporting COVID-19 data once a week. This is the most recent data from Sept. 1.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 36,651, case totals to 3,789,034 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 101,183 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 remain at 571.

Best Practices to Limit COVID-19 Transmission,

With worksite outbreaks on the rise, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reminds employers to review measures aimed at limiting COVID-19 transmission in the workplace and the preventable disruptions that may result from them.

In Los Angeles County, during the 30-day period ending Sept. 1, Public Health opened 73 new COVID-19 outbreak investigations, nearly three times the number of outbreak investigations opened during the prior 30-day period.

During the most recent 30-day period ending Sept. 1, Public Health received 154 cluster reports from worksites. Worksites are required to report clusters of three or more possibly connected COVID-19 cases over a 7-day period to Public Health within 24 hours of becoming aware of the situation. If upon investigation, the cluster meets the criteria for a worksite outbreak, meaning there is confirmed transmission at a site, a Public Health case manager will be assigned to help guide the worksite response.

Businesses can report possible COVID-19 clusters to Public Health online. For answers to questions about what and when to report, email communityoutbreak@ph.lacounty.gov or call 1-888-397-3993.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health guidelines note that employers should have procedures in place for seeking information from employees related to COVID-19 cases and close contacts in the workplace, including collecting and keeping confidential records of all COVID-19 cases.

Once a COVID-19 case is identified, the person who tests positive will need to isolate and not return to work for a minimum of five days. Employees may return to the workplace on the sixth day after testing positive if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their symptoms are mild or improving. For those employees who meet the criteria to end isolation and return to work on day six, Cal/OSHA requires masking through day 10 at workplaces.

Employers should inform all close contacts of their exposure within one business day of the case identification in a manner that does not reveal personal information related to the case.

Exposed workers should wear a high-quality, well-fitted mask around others for 10 days, which the employer is required to supply. Anyone exposed should test 3-5 days after their last close contact with the COVID-positive individual. Per Cal/OSHA, employers must offer testing at no cost to employees who have had a workplace exposure during paid time.

Following a set of best practices can help reduce the chance of transmission and related disruptions in the workplace. This includes encouraging employees to stay up to date on their vaccines. This fall, employers should consider giving time off for workers to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine or they can host a vaccination event at their worksite.

Additionally, employers should actively encourage and provide support for employees to remain home when sick and to follow mask rules outlined by Cal/OSHA and recommended by Public Health. Employers are also responsible for providing adequate resources for handwashing and regular cleaning of surfaces. Increasing ventilation can significantly help to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Detailed information, and resources including workplace signage, can be found at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDBusiness.

Reported outbreaks in other sectors have also increased this past week including a 43 percent increase at schools with 33 newly opened school outbreaks this week, up from 23 the prior week. This reflects the continued higher rate of spread of COVID-19, and means that sensible protections, such as remaining home when sick, frequent handwashing, testing when exposed or ill, and wearing a well-fitting mask where required or appropriate, are appropriate steps everyone can take.

To access free telehealth services for treatment for those testing positive for COVID, contact the Public Health Call Center, seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., at 1-833-540-0473.

Los Angeles County remains in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Low Hospital Admission Level with 7.4 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, reported on Sept. 5 for the seven-day period ending Aug. 26, an increase from 6.3 hospital admissions last week.

Public Health reports COVID-19 data weekly. The following table shows case, wastewater, emergency department, hospitalization and death data 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 Update

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported not additional deaths from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley, keeping the total number of deaths in the SCV at 571.

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: 465

Castaic: 31 (revised from 33)

Acton: 19 (revised from 19)

Stevenson Ranch: 19

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 11

Agua Dulce: 8

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 101,183 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 74,694

*Castaic: 9,856

Stevenson Ranch: 6,111

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 3,826

Acton: 2,051

Val Verde: 1,236

Agua Dulce: 1,011

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 956

Saugus (unincorporated portion):  351

Elizabeth Lake: 291

Bouquet Canyon: 209

Lake Hughes: 207

Saugus/Canyon Country: 146

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 107

Sand Canyon: 63

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 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 By the Numbers

The most updated data as of Sept. 1:

New hospital admissions updated Sept. 1, at 9:36 a.m., with data from Aug. 26.

Deaths and tests updated Sept. 1, at 9:36 a.m., with data from Aug. 29.

For more California data, click [here].