Original story posted at 1:28 p.m.
Update posted at 10:43 p.m.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced the “alarming” number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to increase — with 2,439 hospitalized as of Wednesday — marking the second day in a row the county reported record-breaking patient levels.
“We’re seeing terrifying increases in numbers in L.A, County that can only be turned around if everyone, businesses and individuals, carefully use the tools we have to slow the spread,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Wear face covering, distance, stay away from crowds and gatherings and follow all of the business protocols to protect workers and customers.”
This comes after Public Health officials reported Tuesday the highest daily number of cases and hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic, with hospitalizations increasing 94% in the last two weeks.
“While hospitals will use all of the tactics available to them to be able to increase the staffing and supply of beds, please know that those resources are not unlimited,” Health Services Director Christina Ghaly added. “Staffing is tight and it’s tighter than it normally would be in a hospital because all hospitals have staff that are out on quarantine, who are out sick, caring for themselves or family members, or who are in isolation themselves.”
Record-breaking figures follow Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statement Monday that California is considering a new stay-at-home order in purple-tier counties should figures continue to rise. While state officials have not issued such an order, California is looking to potentially mirror L.A. County’s model of a modified “Safer-at-Home” order, according to county Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th District includes the Santa Clarita Valley, in a phone interview Wednesday.
“If that’s the case, then we will not be impacted,” she said. “We have implemented a modified ‘Safer at Home’ (order); not the same as when it was done in March.”
On Wednesday night, the city of Los Angeles announced a strict stay-at-home order that requires all non-essential businesses to halt in-person operations. As of press time, no such order had been adopted either by the state or L.A. County. The city of Los Angeles’ order does not apply to the Santa Clarita Valley.
L.A. County, the nation’s most populous county, is also the county with the highest number of confirmed cases nationwide, at 414,185, with Cook County in Illinois coming in second, at 310,722, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
L.A. County Public Health officials also released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Wednesday:
COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County: 5,987
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 414,185
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours: 40
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 7,740
Hospitalizations countywide: 2,439; 24% of whom are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Nov. 30: 52, with 402 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 141, 113 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 10,024
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV as of Dec. 1: 84
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: 6,509
Unincorporated – Acton: 122
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 62
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 16
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 250
Unincorporated – Castaic: 2,434 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 12
Unincorporated – Newhall: 36
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 3
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 7
Unincorporated – Saugus: 50
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 15
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 324
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 122
Unincorporated – Valencia: 65
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
