The number of cases within the Santa Clarita Valley, which includes an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center, jumped by 122 in the last day, bringing the SCV total number of cases to 1,303.
However, this one-day spike in cases is largely attributed to cases reported to Castaic, which saw an increase of 102 in the last 24 hours. The numbers reported for Castaic also included the number of confirmed inmate cases at Pitchess Detention Center, which has been experiencing an outbreak for a number of weeks.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has not clarified how many inmate cases are being reported by Pitchess Detention Center since Thursday.
Los Angeles County has seen an increase of 1,824 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last day, bringing the total overall number of cases since the pandemic began to 51,562.
Fifty new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, with the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 countywide as of Friday at 2,290, said L.A. County Public Health Department officials.
Of those who died: 33 were over the age of 65, and 30 of that group had underlying conditions. Thirteen cases involved people between the ages of 41-65, and of them seven had underlying conditions; and four people were between the ages of 18-40. The remaining deaths were reported by the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach; each has its own public health department.
The large number of newly reported cases, according to DPH Director Barbara Ferrer, was due to a 500-case backlog from one of the labs being used by the county.
The mortality rate within L.A. County is 4.4% of confirmed cases.
During the news conference, 5th District county Supervisor Kathryn Barger discussed Friday’s announcement that L.A. County was granted variance by the state, meaning that barbershops, hair salons and restaurants are allowed to reopen.
On Wednesday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials reported 1,555 patients were tested, with 208 of those returning positive, while 1,289 were negative and 42 were still pending, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody, who added that the disparity in figures is from patients being tested more than once. A total of nine people remained in the hospital for treatment, and 73 had recovered and been discharged.
The hospital declined to give any identifying information about two patients reported deceased this week, citing patient privacy policy. The numbers from Wednesday are the most recently made available.
Public Health reported Friday the number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 1,303, which, broken down by region, is as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 734
Unincorporated – Acton: 11
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 8
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 1
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 37
Unincorporated – Castaic: 442 (includes at least 329 cases from Pitchess Detention Center as of the Thursday reporting numbers)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 1
Unincorporated – Newhall: 1
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – Saugus: 4
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 0
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 34
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 23
Unincorporated – Valencia: 7
Pitchess Detention Center, including all four of its jails, had a total of 329 inmates who had been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive and have been included in Castaic’s numbers, while the 44 staff who tested positive are reported to the region in which they reside, according to Public Health’s latest figures.
Public Health officials have said the number of cases reported in Castaic can fluctuate due to the numbers reported for Pitchess Detention Center being out of alignment with the outbreak investigation counts.
