Los Angeles County Public Health officials reported Tuesday one additional death related to COVID-19 and more than 120 new cases for the Santa Clarita Valley, including diagnoses from an outbreak at the Pitchess Detention Center and a one-day spike attributed to Val Verde.
New confirmed COVID-19 cases in the SCV increased by 126 on Tuesday over the last 24 hours, which included a spike listed under Val Verde from 29 to 84 in just 24 hours.
Previous spikes for the Val Verde area were incorrectly attributed due to a geo-mapping system error, per Public Health.
Most of the SCV’s overall tally, according to Public Health, stems from an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center, which had 1,755 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, according to Public Health. These numbers are supposed to be tallied under the Castaic region, which had a total of 1,306 diagnoses in the latest Public Health tally — less than the number reported by the Sheriff’s Department for Pitchess.
County officials have said the discrepancy in the numbers relates to delays in the reporting process from the Sheriff’s Department to the Public Health Department. The Castaic/Pitchess numbers have not added up correctly for more than a week.
As of Tuesday, the county has not responded to requests to clarify how many cases are attributed to Castaic residents and how many to Pitchess inmates, or whether the increase listed under Val Verde is accurate.
After a reported COVID-19-related death on Tuesday, the SCV’s death toll reached 23, per Public Health and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials.
Hospital officials released their latest figures Tuesday, reporting a total of 2,045 patients had been tested — many of whom have been tested more than once — with 234 tests returning positive, 2,013 negative and 60 still pending, according to spokesman Patrick Moody. Three people remained in the hospital and 91 have recovered and been discharged.
Countywide figures
Los Angeles County Public Health officials reported Tuesday 1,225 new confirmed COVID-19 cases countywide, bringing the total number to 65,822. The death toll reached 2,707 after officials reported 56 new deaths on Tuesday.
Of the overall count of positive cases, more than 1,450 people remained hospitalized Tuesday, of whom 29% are in the ICU and 22% are on ventilators, according to Public Health officials.
“It is important for us to remember that 83% of people testing positive for COVID-19 are under the age of 66. People who are positive can spread the virus fairly easily to others, even if they don’t have any symptoms,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “Take care of each other by always wearing your face covering and keeping your distance when around others not in your household.”
On Monday, World Health Organization officials said asymptomatic spread is not the main way COVID-19 spreads.
“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Maria Van Kerkhove, who’s leading the WHO’s diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a news briefing Monday.
SCV breakdown
Public Health reported Tuesday the number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 2,351, which, broken down by region, is as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 847
Unincorporated – Acton: 15
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 10
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 1
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 36
Unincorporated – Castaic: 1,306 (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: 4
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 0
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 36
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 84
Unincorporated – Valencia: 11
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
