Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 metrics have continued to decline, as California Department of Public Health officials released updated metrics Tuesday for the state’s blueprint for reopening.
The county’s seven-day average test positivity rate has dropped to 2%, while its seven-day average case rate is 5.5 per 100,000 residents per day, and its adjusted case rate is 4.1 per 100,000, which is adjusted depending on the county’s testing volume, according to the state data released Tuesday and based on results from the week ending March 6.
Over the weekend, the state met the new vaccine equity metric, which triggered after 2 million doses had been administered in communities with the lowest score in the Healthy Places Index — the state’s hardest-hit, low-income communities — and changed the thresholds for counties to move from tier to tier.
Under the new metric system, counties in the red tier, like L.A. County, can move to the less restrictive, “orange” tier when their 7-day average adjusted case rate drops from 1 to 3.9 new cases per 100,000 residents per day, as well as a 7-day average test positivity rate between 2% and 4.9%.
With the updated metrics, the county’s adjusted figures are quickly inching closer to the orange tier, though the county must remain in the red tier for three consecutive weeks before moving to orange, even if the county’s metrics align earlier.
L.A. County Department of Public Health officials released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Tuesday:
New COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County in the past 24 hours: 318
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,210,905
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported: 52
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 22,519
Hospitalizations countywide: 865; 28% of whom are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of March 10: 6, with 1,171 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 11, 7 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 26,775
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV as of March 15: 279
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: 19,643
Unincorporated – Acton: 456
Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 260
Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 45
Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 809
Unincorporated – Castaic: 3,648 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)
Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 40
Unincorporated – Newhall: 66
Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 1
Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 15
Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 17
Unincorporated – Saugus: 132
Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 39
Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 1,094
Unincorporated – Val Verde: 325
Unincorporated – Valencia: 185
