The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Friday 216 new laboratory confirmed cases and one new death 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 Friday, Feb. 2.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 37,311 case totals to 3,866,254 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 104,686 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 increase to 592.

As COVID-19 Indicators Start to Decline, Public Health Recommends Older Residents Continue to Protect Themselves

Indicators for COVID-19 have started to decline from peak levels a few weeks ago, but still remain elevated, underscoring the need for continued precautions particularly for older residents.

Wastewater concentrations for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are at 64 percent of last year’s winter peak for the week ending Jan. 20, compared to 67 percent for one week earlier. Hospitalizations have also started to decline, with an average of 654 COVID-positive patients in the hospital the week ending Jan. 27, down from 726 a week earlier. Deaths have plateaued with an average of 5.0 deaths per day for the week ending Jan. 8, comparable to the 4.9 deaths per day reported the previous week. Influenza and RSV activity has declined compared to the peak, but both viruses continue to circulate at elevated levels.

Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 Hospital Admission Level, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has remained in the Low Level. Today, the CDC reported 6.7 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people for the week ending Jan. 27. As a result, Public Health is modifying the Health Officer Order that currently requires healthcare personnel and visitors to wear a mask while in contact with patients or working in patient-care areas in licensed healthcare facilities that provide inpatient care. Effective today, masking is no longer mandated for all staff and visitors at these facilities. Healthcare personnel in licensed healthcare facilities who have not received both the updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines must continue to wear a mask while in contact with patients or working in patient-care areas for the duration of the respiratory virus season, which ends April 30th for the purposes of this the Health Officer Order. Public Health continues to strongly recommend that all visitors to and staff working in licensed healthcare facilities wear a mask while in contact with patients or working in patient care areas.

Although major indicators suggest transmission is slowing, it remains important for all residents, and especially older residents, to continue practicing common sense precautions to protect themselves from COVID-19. These include staying home when sick, testing, seeking treatment and getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Older adults are more likely to get very sick, be hospitalized and die from COVID-19 than younger people. For the 90-day period ending Jan. 8, COVID-19 hospitalization rates were four times higher, and death rates were five times higher, among Los Angeles County residents ages 65-79 compared to those ages 50-64. Despite this increased risk, only about 1 in 4 Los Angeles County residents 65 and older have received the newly updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect against the severe effects of COVID-19. At least one dose of the vaccine that became available in September 2023 is recommended for everyone six months and older, even if they had earlier versions of the vaccine, had COVID-19 in the past or are in good health and don’t get sick often.

Because the COVID-19 virus changes over time, it’s important to get the updated dose that was formulated to offer better protection against new strains of the virus currently circulating in Los Angeles County. The new vaccine can also restore immunity that may have diminished over time and lessen the risk of getting long COVID and other post-COVID conditions. Unlike other respiratory diseases, COVID-19 circulates year-round, and we often see increases during the summer. Getting vaccinated now can help protect against viral spread that can happen even after respiratory virus season is over.

The updated COVID-19 vaccine remains free and easy to obtain in Los Angeles County. Residents can visit ph.lacounty.gov/vaccines or Myturn.ca.gov to find a vaccine site near them. Vaccines are also available through Public Health Centers across the county and at Public Health POD sites. A full list of vaccine sites can be found a ph.lacounty.gov/vaccines by clicking the links under the Get Vaccinated section of the site.

Residents who are home-bound or have difficulty leaving their home safely can request an in-home vaccination by calling the Public Health InfoLine at 1-833-540-0473 or by completing an online request form at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/vaccine/vaxathome/. The Public Health InfoLine is free and available to Los Angeles County residents, regardless of their insurance or immigration status, seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents can also contact their healthcare provider to schedule a vaccine appointment.

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.

All daily averages are 7-day averages. Data for past weeks are subject to change in future reports. Time periods covered by each metric: cases = week ending each Saturday; wastewater = week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag; ED data = week ending each Sunday; hospitalizations = week ending each Saturday; deaths = week ending each Monday, with a three-week lag; death percentage = week ending Monday, with a one-week lag.

Case data is presented by episode date, an approximation of the date the illness began, and death data is presented by date of death. This is a change from how case and death data were presented prior to July 26, 2023, which was by date of report. Daily average cases do not include Long Beach and Pasadena; daily average deaths include Long Beach and Pasadena.

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

The L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported one additional death from COVID-19 in Acton and one new death in Lake Hughes, bringing the total number of deaths in the SCV to 579.

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 of the 592 deaths in the SCV per L.A. County’s dashboard:

Santa Clarita: 479

Castaic: 35

Acton: 21

Stevenson Ranch: 19

Unincorporated Canyon Country: 11

Agua Dulce: 8

Val Verde: 6

Elizabeth Lake: 4

Lake Hughes: 3

Valencia: 2

Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2

Newhall: 1

Unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1

SCV Cases

Of the 104,686 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 77,287

*Castaic: 10,152

Stevenson Ranch: 6,337

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 3,964

Acton: 2,118

Val Verde: 1,280

Agua Dulce: 1,043

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 1,000

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 363

Elizabeth Lake: 307

Bouquet Canyon: 222

Lake Hughes: 215

Saugus/Canyon Country: 153

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 109

Sand Canyon: 64

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 47

Placerita Canyon: 25

*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

California now reports weekly COVID updates on Fridays. Updated data as of Friday, Feb. 2:

For more California data, click [here].