The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 88 new cases in the Santa Clarita Valley within the last week.

Public Health is now reporting COVID-19 data every Thursday. This week LAPH sent the weekly report on Friday, April 21.

This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 36,146, county case totals to 3,733,443 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 99,211 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 remain at 554.

Two days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 vaccine guidance, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is asking residents, especially older people, to check and make sure they have the most up-to-date protection available, which includes at least one bivalent booster.

On Wednesday, the CDC gave adults 65 years and older the option to get a second bivalent booster at least four months after their first dose, resulting in new eligibility for more than 335,000 Los Angeles County residents. They also made a second bivalent booster available to people who are immunocompromised at least two months after their first bivalent booster.

In addition, the CDC replaced the original monovalent vaccines, formulated for the original COVID-19 strain, an action that took effect this week in Los Angeles County. Anyone not yet vaccinated can now get a single dose of the bivalent booster in place of the multi-dose series for the most up-to-date protection against COVID-19 infection.

For many of the 1.7 million residents of Los Angeles County who have already received the bivalent booster, their protections are up to date, and they are not eligible for additional doses at this time. The bivalent booster was approved in September and is proven effective against the currently circulating Omicron strains. Anyone vaccinated before September has not yet gotten a bivalent dose.

As older adults remain among the most vulnerable to hospitalization and death due to COVID-19, it is especially important that the county’s nearly 750,000 residents 65 and older who haven’t received their first bivalent booster consider taking advantage of the added protection.

Studies and clinical data provide mounting evidence on the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine at reducing the risk of symptomatic infection and severe illness, especially among people 65 and older. Local data correlates well with the research findings.

Hospitalization rates, as of the 90-day period ending April 3, were nearly double for people 65 and older who were vaccinated without the updated bivalent booster compared to people in the same age group who were vaccinated and received the bivalent booster. And those unvaccinated in this age group were five times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were vaccinated and received the bivalent booster.

For the 90-day period ending March 27, among residents 65 and older, those who were vaccinated without the bivalent booster died from COVID-19 at twice the rate of people who were vaccinated and had received the bivalent booster. Unvaccinated residents 65 and older had the highest death rate from COVID-19 and were six times more likely to die than those in this age group who were vaccinated and had received the bivalent booster.

Public Health is offering bivalent vaccines and boosters to eligible residents at no cost at hundreds of locations throughout Los Angeles County, regardless of their insurance or immigration status. Vaccination locations and appointments can be found at VaccinateLACounty.com or VacunateLosAngeles.com (en español) or by calling 1-833-540-0473.

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 or by calling the Public Health COVID-19 Call Center at 1-833-540-0473.

In Los Angeles County, XBB.1.5 remains the dominant variant, and regular variant surveillance is not indicating that any new strains are rapidly gaining dominance. Public Health is also tracking five new strains XBB.1.5.1, XBB.1.9.1, XBB.1.9.2, XBB.1.16, and FD.2, following the lead of the CDC, which recently added these to their variant tracker dashboard, which happens when the strain accounts for 1% or more of sequenced specimens nationally. All the new strains are descendants of Omicron and circulating at very low levels in Los Angeles County; the bivalent vaccine is expected to provide protection against them.

“I would like to offer my condolences to those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 and wish you comfort and healing,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “While vaccines are not a guarantee against severe illness and death, the data we have illustrates the very real protection offered by the bivalent booster even against the newer variants circulating now. I know that sorting through the new guidance can seem complicated, however, there is one simple way to think about it: everyone 6 months and older should have at least one bivalent booster, whether that is their first COVID vaccine, or their fifth, or one in a series for young children. And those who are 65 and older or immunocompromised now have the option to receive additional bivalent doses. As we think about the implications of the new vaccine guidance, it is worth noting how many millions of people in Los Angeles County can take an action immediately to increase their protection from severe illness from COVID-19.”

The weekly reported case count for COVID-19 increased slightly from the week prior from 3,023 last week to 3,114 this week, although the overall trend remains stable. Reported weekly deaths decreased slightly from 59 last week to 44 this week. The 7-day average number of COVID hospitalizations is 328 this week, a decrease from 348 last week.

Los Angeles County remains in the CDC’s Low COVID-19 Community Level for the 14th consecutive week. This includes a weekly reported case rate of 30 new cases per 100,000 people. The 7-day total for new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people is currently 3.2. And the 7-day average of the proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is now 1.9%.

As of Tuesday, April 18, there have been a total of 36,146 deaths in Los Angeles County.

Public Health is now reporting COVID 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.

1) Weekly case and death counts represent the number of cases and deaths reported for the week ending each Tuesday. The date a case/death is reported by DPH is not the same as the date of testing or death.

2) Wastewater concentrations reflect the week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag.

3) Hospitalization data represents average number of COVID-positive hospitalizations for the week ending each Tuesday. Data for past weeks is subject to change in future reports.

4) Emergency department data represents average number of coronavirus classified encounters for the week ending each Sunday. Data for past weeks is subject to change in future reports.

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 4 p.m. Friday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported an additional death from COVID-19 in the city of Santa Clarita, bringing the total number of deaths in the SCV to 554.

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: 452

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 99,211 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

Santa Clarita: 73,313

Castaic: 9,602

Stevenson Ranch: 5,974

Canyon Country: 3,756

Acton: 2,013

Val Verde: 1,221

Agua Dulce: 991

Valencia: 934

Saugus: 343

Elizabeth Lake: 288

Bouquet Canyon: 206

Lake Hughes: 203

Saugus/Canyon Country: 131

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.​

Update for April 20, 2023

Vaccines Administered updated April 20, 2023 at 9:36 a.m., with data from April 19, 2023
Cases, Deaths, and Tests updated April 20, 2023 at 9:36 a.m., with data from April 18, 2023.