L.A. County continues to see high case count

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced Wednesday 2,758 additional COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total in L.A. County to 143,009.

“We are in an alarming and dangerous phase in this pandemic here in L.A. County,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “These alarming trends reflect behaviors from three weeks ago, and it will take several weeks to see if our behavior now, including the rollback of previously opened sectors, slows the spread of the virus.”

On Wednesday, there were 2,193 people hospitalized in L.A. County — the highest number of hospitalizations reported in a day ever — with 26% in the ICU and 17% on ventilators, while data shows younger people, between the ages of 18 and 40, are being hospitalized at a higher rate than seen before, per Public Health.

“In the last few weeks, hospitalizations have increased significantly, and we are on an upward trajectory,” Ferrer said. “The shift from declining rates to increasing rates happened very rapidly. And we now see a three-day average of over 2,000 people hospitalized on a given day, which is more people hospitalized each day for COVID-19 than at any other point during the pandemic.”

In addition, Public Health reported 44 new deaths countywide, bringing the total deaths

related to COVID-19 to 3,932.

Of those who died: 27 were over the age of 65, 25 of whom had underlying health conditions; 13 were between the ages of 41-65, eight of whom had underlying health conditions; and one was between the ages of 18-40 and had underlying health conditions. The remaining deaths were reported by the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own public health departments.

Testing results are available for more than 1.4 million individuals, with 9% of all people testing positive, while the seven-day rolling average daily positivity rate is now at 9.8%, per Public Health.

At the beginning of June, the seven-day average of new cases was 1,452, and has now increased to an average of 2,859 new cases per day, Ferrer said.

“This is double where we were at the beginning of June, and it’s higher than it has been at any point in the pandemic,” she added. “The seven-day average paints a clear picture of what’s happening these last few weeks, which really is that we continue to see a sharp increase in what we call community transmission.”

This comes as Ferrer says Public Health officials are worried that there will be an increase in deaths, as the number of hospitalizations continues to increase.

“What we do today impacts our lives and the weeks and the months ahead,” Ferrer added. “We’re just not able to continue on our recovery journey without everyone doing their part. Keeping businesses open is only possible if we can get back to slowing the spread.”

Public Health is also expanding the county’s testing sites by 65% over the next couple of weeks, with the entirety of that expansion focused on areas of high need, as well as adding access at existing testing locations, according to Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county director of health services.

SCV data

In the SCV, 69 additional COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, with 54 in the city of Santa Clarita, five in Stevenson Ranch, three each in Acton and Castaic, two in Valencia, and one each in Canyon Country, Newhall and Saugus/ Canyon Country.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital released its weekly tallies Wednesday, which showed that more than 150 tests have been conducted in the past 48 hours, totaling 4,482 since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 495 returned positive, an increase of 41 in the past 48 hours, and 4,201 negative, an increase in 191, while 458 remain pending, according to spokesman Patrick Moody. A total of 140 people have recovered and 23 remained at the hospital — an increase of eight since Monday.

The number of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and those at Pitchess Detention Center, totaled 3,777 on Wednesday, broken down into region, are as follows:

▪ City of Santa Clarita: 1,676

▪ Unincorporated — Acton: 37

▪ Unincorporated — Agua Dulce: 15

▪ Unincorporated — Bouquet Canyon: 1

▪ Unincorporated — Canyon Country: 58

▪ Unincorporated — Castaic: 1,825 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center; exact number unavailable)

▪ Unincorporated — Lake Hughes: 1

▪ Unincorporated — Newhall: 4

▪ Unincorporated — Placerita Canyon: 0

▪ Unincorporated — San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 0

▪ Unincorporated — Sand Canyon: 2

▪ Unincorporated — Saugus: 11

▪ Unincorporated — Saugus/ Canyon Country: 1

▪ Unincorporated — Stevenson Ranch: 87

▪ Unincorporated — Val Verde: 33

▪ Unincorporated — Valencia: 26