Los Angeles County saw the largest one-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with 1,843 cases being reported in the past 24 hours. The latest update brings the total number of cases countywide to 47,822.
Officials said that while Tuesday’s number was the largest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic, a number of the newly confirmed cases could be attributed to a backlog of test results.
The number of cases within the Santa Clarita Valley, including the numbers from an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center, has grown by 21 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 1,132.
Countywide there were 27 new deaths reported related to COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,143.
Of those who died in the past day, 26 were over the age of 65 years old; six people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.
Seventeen people had underlying health conditions, including 11 people over the age of 65 and six people ages 41 to 65.
The mortality rate is now at 4.45% among confirmed cases countywide.
On May 18, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials reported 1,332 patients were tested, with 197 of those returning positive, while 1,245 were negative and 35 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 14 people remain in the hospital for treatment and 68 have recovered and been discharged as of May 18. No additional updates have been provided by the hospital since then.
Public Health reported Tuesday the number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 1,132, which, broken down by region, is as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 690
Unincorporated – Acton: 11
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 7
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 36
Unincorporated – Castaic: 21 (with 300 cases from Pitchess Detention Center)
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: 33
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 21
Unincorporated – Valencia: 7
Pitchess Detention Center, including all four of its jails, had a total of 300 inmates who had been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive and have been included in Castaic’s numbers, while the 40 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.