Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced Wednesday the county had surpassed 10,000 deaths related to COVID-19, while continuing to urge residents to cancel New Year’s gatherings.
“As we come to the end of 2020, a devastating year for countless numbers of people, I know that I, like so many people, hold on to a hope for a brighter and better future,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “This upcoming year offers us the opportunity to rebuild a more just world after the pandemic and to make sure that we never again witness so much global suffering. We have a chance to make it right, so let’s start today by recognizing our shared humanity and responsibility to take care of each other.”
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital also reported one additional death related to COVID-19, bringing the death toll in the Santa Clarita Valley to 117.
This comes as the Southern California region’s available intensive care unit capacity remained at 0.0% Wednesday, following state public health officials’ announcement Tuesday that the region’s stay-at-home order would be extended until the region returns to the 15% threshold.
Following the holiday season and any intermingling that occurred, Ferrer said L.A. County should be prepared for another surge, with even higher case numbers in January.
“Increasing cases always translates to more and more people being rushed to already overcrowded hospitals and, tragically, also results in more people continuing to die,” Ferrer added.
L.A. County Public Health officials also released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Wednesday:
ICU capacity for Southern California: 0.0%
New COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County in the past 24 hours: 10,392
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 756,116
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported: 274, with the high number of new deaths reflecting a backlog associated with the Spectrum service outage and holiday weekend delays.
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 10,056
Hospitalizations countywide: 7,415; 20% of whom are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Dec. 30: 88, with 672 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 177, 130 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 16,507
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV: 117, including one from Henry Mayo reported Wednesday.
The numbers of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and those at Pitchess Detention Center, broken down into region, are as follows:
City of Santa Clarita: 11,615
Unincorporated – Acton: 265
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 131
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 24
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 481
Unincorporated – Castaic: 2,907 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 22
Unincorporated – Newhall: 53
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 6
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 9
Unincorporated – Saugus: 88
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 26
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 600
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 178
Unincorporated – Valencia: 98
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
