The number of coronavirus cases in the Santa Clarita Valley, including cases from an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center, continued to rise Sunday, as 102 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to at least 2,200.
Castaic had a total number of 1,226 confirmed cases, which is largely due to the inclusion of the numbers from an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center, which, as of Sunday, had 1,753 confirmed cases, according to Los Angeles County Public Health Department officials.
County officials say the discrepancy between the number of Pitchess cases and the number of Castaic cases has to do with delays in the reporting process from the Sheriff’s Department to the Public Health Department. As the reporting progresses, Pitchess cases are expected to be added to the Castaic total.
Countywide, Public Health reported 25 new deaths and 1,523 new cases of COVID-19, bringing to total to 2,645 deaths related to the virus and 63,844 cases.
The high number of cases is, in part, due to a backlog of test results received from one lab, according to Public Health officials.
Of those who died, 15 were over the age of 65, 14 of whom had underlying health conditions; five people who died were between the ages of 41-65, three of whom had underlying health conditions; and one person who died was between the ages of 18-40 who had underlying health issues. Four deaths were reported by the city of Long Beach, which has its own public health department.
Within the SCV, one new death related to COVID-19 was reported on Friday, for a total of 22 deaths, according to Public Health.
On Wednesday, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital officials confirmed one additional death at the hospital, which brought its tally to 11, with 21 total in the SCV. Due to patient privacy policy, the hospital declined to give any information about the newly reported deceased.
Hospital officials, who recently transitioned from daily to weekly reports, released their latest figures Wednesday. A total of 1,824 patients had been tested — many of whom have been tested more than once — with 227 tests returning positive, 1,810 negative and 17 still pending, according to spokesman Patrick Moody. A total of eight people remained in the hospital for treatment, and 84 had since recovered and been discharged.
Public Health reported Sunday the number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 2,200, which, broken down by region, is as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 835
Unincorporated – Acton: 13
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 10
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 1
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 36
Unincorporated – Castaic: 1,226 (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: 28
Unincorporated – Valencia: 9
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
