The Signal

County reports highest 1-day death toll

Health officials say 40 died in 24 hours; SCV cases rise by 7

- By Caleb Lunetta Signal Staff Writer

The total number of confirmed cases in the Santa Clarita Valley increased by seven Tuesday, and Public Health officials announced the largest countywide number of deaths in a single day due to COVID-19.

There were 40 deaths due to the disease in the county over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 360 since the onset of the pandemic, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“This is tragically the highest number of deaths that I’ve had to report for any single day,” said Ferrer.

Additional­ly, the number of

“I know there’s a lot of messaging on the national news channels about reopening the country, but I do want to remind everyone that we’re not yet on the other side of this.”

Dr. Barbara Ferrer,

Los Angeles Department of Public Health director

cases within the Santa Clarita Valley reached a total of 195 in both incorporat­ed and unincorpor­ated communitie­s.

“I know there’s a lot of messaging on the national news channels about reopening the country, but I do want to remind everyone that we’re not yet on the other side of this,” said Ferrer. “The goal of getting people back to work in a safe manner is paramount, but we need to make sure as we do this, we don’t cause a huge increase in cases, forcing us to order massive closures again.”

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 10,047 in Los Angeles County, an increase of 670 in the last 24 hours. Of those, 2,517 had been hospitaliz­ed at some point, which represents roughly 25% of those diagnosed, Ferrer said.

Of those confirmed cases countywide, 26 of those have been within homeless population­s and 1,596 confirmed cases have been in institutio­nal settings, of which 850 were residents and 746 were

among staff. Institutio­nal settings include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, shelters, treatment centers, supported living, jails and prisons.

Officials at Atria Santa Clarita announced on Tuesday they had a second resident test positive and be hospitaliz­ed due to COVID-19. A number of other senior living facilities in Santa Clarita have also reported their own cases of COVID-19, and Oakmont of Valencia on Monday reported the facility’s first death related to the virus.

At Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, there have been a total of 447 tests administer­ed, 87 of which have returned positive, 358 as negative, four pending results and 25 hospitaliz­ations.

No new deaths at the hospital due to COVID-19 have been recorded as of Tuesday, with the total remaining at two.

The number of cases for the Santa Clarita Valley, broken down into region, were as follows, according to Public Health’s numbers as of Tuesday afternoon:

▪ City of Santa Clarita: 157

▪ Unincorpor­ated Acton: “–”

▪ Unincorpor­ated Agua Dulce: “–”

▪ Unincorpor­ated Canyon Country: 14

▪ Unincorpor­ated Castaic: 9

▪ Unincorpor­ated Lake Hughes: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated Newhall: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated Placerita Canyon: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated Sand Canyon: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated Saugus: “–”

▪ Unincorpor­ated — Saugus/Canyon Country: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated Stevenson Ranch: 11

▪ Unincorpor­ated Val Verde: 0

▪ Unincorpor­ated — Valencia: “–”

Anywhere there is a “– ” means they could have between one and four cases, which is done to protect patient privacy, according to Public Health spokesman Bernard Tolliver.

Once these locations have five or more cases, then they will be included in the count, while locations that have zero will say “0,” per Public Health officials.

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