While Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced a steady decline in daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the virus remains widespread in the county.
The county has seen a 30% decrease in the seven-day average of daily cases and an 8% decrease in hospitalizations compared to last week, but Chief Science Officer Paul Simon said community members should continue to wear masks outdoors and refrain from leaving home unnecessarily.
“We are seeing a decline but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t keep doing what we’ve been asking since the beginning of this surge,” Simon said
The test-positivity rate has also declined in the county by 39% in the last three weeks. As of Friday, the test-positivity rate dropped to 12.7% but remains significantly high compared to the 3.8% positivity rate announced in November, before the surge began.
Simon added the death rate in the county remains high, and reported 256 new deaths Friday, while Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital reported three additional deaths in the last 24 hours.
Hilda Solis, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, announced Friday she’s advocating for President Joe Biden to prioritize more vaccine doses for L.A. County, as Public Health reported vaccine doses are in an extreme limited supply after broadening the vaccine eligibility to include people ages 65 and older.
As of Thursday, the county administered 441,000 vaccine doses, which include 88,000 second doses for health care workers. Public Health officials said more than 4 million doses would be needed to complete both doses for health care workers and seniors 65 years and older.
Los Angeles County Public Health officials released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Friday:
ICU available capacity for Southern California: 0.0%
New COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County in the past 24 hours: 9,277
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,054,802
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported: 256
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 14,894
Hospitalizations countywide: 7,073; 24% of whom are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Jan. 22: 84, with 937 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 195, 155 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 22,490
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV: 164, including three additional deaths reported by Henry Mayo on Friday.
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: 16,359
Unincorporated – Acton: 373
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 195
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 38
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 660
Unincorporated – Castaic: 3,321 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 35
Unincorporated – Newhall: 59
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 13
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 13
Unincorporated – Saugus: 111
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 26
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 887
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 252
Unincorporated – Valencia: 148
To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.
