Three Santa Clarita Valley settings have been identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as sites experiencing active COVID-19 as of Thursday: Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, North County Correctional Facility in Castaic and Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.
An outbreak is defined as three or more positive cases linked through any type of shared activity.
According to Patrick Moody, a spokesman for HMNH, on Nov. 27 six positive cases of COVID-19 were identified at the hospital.
The protocol for a patient testing positive for COVID-19 is that they are isolated, according to Moody. If an employee tests positive, they are unable to work for five days. If they test negative after those five days, they may return to work.
Moody said, at the time of this publication, the outbreak concluded on Thursday. No additional cases came about in the 10 days after the last reported case.
According to the L.A. County Department of Public Health, the city of Santa Clarita has accumulated 75,864 cases of COVID-19. According to DPH, 151 positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified since Dec. 1.
“The number of seven-day average daily cases is presented by episode date, an approximation of the date the illness began, and reflects data for the seven-day period ending Saturday,” wrote the L.A. County Department of Public Health on its website about the how the numbers are collected. “The number of seven-day average daily deaths is presented by date of death and reflects data for the seven-day period ending Monday with a three-week lag. This is a change from how case and death data were presented prior to (July 23), which was by date of report.”
The DPH recommends the following to reduce one’s risk of contracting COVID-19: Practice good hygiene, ask for COVID-19 medicine as soon as possible, stay home when sick, test for COVID-19, improve ventilation and wear a mask.
