Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced 2,129 additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday — the highest one-day spike the county has faced since the beginning of the outbreak — bringing the total to 77,189 countywide.
“A portion of this large increase is due to a large backlog of about 600 test results being reported to us by one lab,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “As a reminder to the labs, it is really important that you report all testing results to the Department of Public Health in a timely manner.”
In addition, Public Health officials reported 34 new deaths, with one additional death reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, bringing the total to 2,991 deaths related to COVID-19 in L.A. County and 27 total for the SCV.
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials also reported one additional death related to COVID-19 Wednesday. It is unclear whether that death is the same one being reported by Public Health Wednesday, as there are typically reporting delays to each region.
Due to patient privacy policy, the hospital declined to give any information about the newly reported deceased, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.
In addition, Henry Mayo released its latest figures Wednesday, reporting a total of 2,343 patients had been tested — many of whom have been tested more than once — with 249 tests returning positive, 2,328 negative and 77 still pending, according to Moody. Seven people remained in the hospital and 94 have recovered and been discharged, he added.
Of the 34 deaths reported countywide Wednesday: 23 were over the age of 65, 17 of whom had underlying health conditions; seven were between the ages of 41-65, four of whom had underlying health conditions; and two were between the ages of 18-40, and both had underlying health conditions. Two deaths were reported by the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own public health departments.
As of Wednesday, 1,420 people remain hospitalized countywide, of whom 28% are in the ICU and 22% are on ventilators, Ferrer said.
In the SCV, the total number of cases reached 2,790 Wednesday, with 13 additional cases being reported in the past 24 hours.
The total for the SCV includes figures for an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Facility, which is reported under the totals for Castaic. However, due to reporting delays, these numbers are not aligned, according to Public Health officials.
On Wednesday, Public Health officials said 59 of Castaic’s 1,721 cases reported Tuesday were not associated with the Pitchess Detention Center, which means approximately 60% of all SCV cases are still attributed to the jail.
The number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 2,790 as of Wednesday, which, broken down by region, is as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 917
Unincorporated – Acton: 17
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 9
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 1
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 39
Unincorporated – Castaic: 1,724 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 1
Unincorporated – Newhall: 1
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – Saugus: 5
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 0
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 41
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 23
Unincorporated – Valencia: 12
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
