The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 94 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 Oct. 26.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 36,878, case totals to 3,814,087 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 102,126 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 remain at 575.

Public Health Offers Simple Tips to Keep Children Healthy and Safe as Holiday Season Officially Begins

As families prepare for upcoming events and celebrations, Public Health encourages simple precautions to keep children protected and healthy throughout the season, allowing families to focus on fun.

Halloween festivities will kick off the holiday season this weekend and with more opportunities to gather, there can be increased risk for spreading illness. While hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are currently low, November marks the time when respiratory virus transmission typically begins to increase and now is the time to get the updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and for some, RSV immunizations are also recommended.

When children have respiratory virus symptoms, such as coughing, sore throat and/or fever, they should test for COVID-19 and, if feeling ill, stay home from school and activities to reduce spreading illness to others. Wearing a well-fitting mask indoors when around others also offers protection against spread of respiratory viruses.

If out trick-or-treating, use sidewalks, flashlights and crosswalks and children should always be supervised and accompanied by a responsible adult. For added safety, residents giving out treats should keep porches, stairwells and walkways lit. Candy and other treats should be inspected before eating and discard any that are unwrapped or opened.

With indoor Halloween plans, it is a good idea to consider testing for COVID-19 before gathering if attendees are at higher risk of severe illness from respiratory disease, including grandparents, pregnant people or infants, or if there is a chance of recent exposure. Testing is a good way to help protect people in the community who are more vulnerable.

In Los Angeles County, free COVID-19 tests are available at city of Los Angeles libraries and Los Angeles County libraries. Residents can also find test kits at Public Health vaccination sites. Many food banks, senior centers and other local organizations offer free test kits for pick-up.

In addition, each household is eligible to order a set of four free at-home tests through the mail by visiting covid.gov/tests and through Nov. 11, 2023, many people with a health plan regulated by California can get up to eight at-home tests per month for each person on the plan at local pharmacies. Full information on free COVID-19 test kits is available at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDtests.

It is recommended that children and adults test for COVID when they have symptoms of respiratory illness. If a person tests positive, they should isolate for at least five days and mask through day 10 when around others. After day five, people can leave isolation if their symptoms are mild and improving and they are fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. Those with respiratory symptoms who test negative for COVID should consider masking indoors around others if they still have symptoms to avoid spreading another respiratory infection, like flu or RSV. It is most accurate to take a second COVID-19 test 48 hours after the first test if respiratory symptoms persist. As with all illness, those with trouble breathing, worsening or unusual symptoms, or with chronic health conditions, should contact a health care provider.

Regardless of prior vaccinations earlier this year or last year, to provide protection against illness, children 6 months and older should have at least one dose of the COVID-19 and flu vaccines this fall, which can be administered at the same time. The most up-to-date formulas, available now, are designed to give the strongest protection against strains that are currently circulating. For younger children, or those who have not previously received a COVID-19 or flu vaccine, additional doses may be recommended. Parents should speak to a health care provider, who can also advise on if an RSV immunization is recommended.

If Los Angeles County residents have questions about vaccines, where to get vaccination or how to get tested, the Public Health Call Center remains open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to answer COVID-19-related questions at 1-833-540-0473. Public Health staff can connect callers with resources and help people schedule vaccination appointments, including in-home vaccinations for those that are homebound.

In Los Angeles County, based on data through Oct. 14, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hospital Admission Level is Low at 4.0 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, lower than 4.6 reported the week before.

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 1:30 p.m. Friday, 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 575.

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: 469

Castaic: 31 (revised from 33)

Acton: 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 102,126 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 75,361

Castaic: 9,966

Stevenson Ranch: 6,177

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 3,865

Acton: 2,070

Val Verde: 1,244

Agua Dulce: 1,021

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 963

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 354

Elizabeth Lake: 294

Bouquet Canyon: 212

Lake Hughes: 208

Saugus/Canyon Country: 151

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 108

Sand Canyon: 63

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 45

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 Oct. 27:

New hospital admissions updated Oct. 27, at 9:36 a.m., with data from Oct. 21.

Deaths and tests updated Oct. 27, at 9:36 a.m., with data from Oct. 24.

For more California data, click [here].