SCVNews.com | Monday COVID-19 Roundup: 3 New Deaths at Henry Mayo; L.A. County Fatalities Remain ‘Distressingly High’

Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Monday confirmed 93 new deaths and 2,741 new cases of COVID-19 countywide as Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia reported three new deaths since Friday.

Henry Mayo reported one COVID-19 patient death Saturday and two more fatalities Monday, according to hospital spokesman Patrick Moody.

The Santa Clarita Valley has now seen a total of 24,801 COVID-19 cases — 260 more since Friday — and 238 deaths since L.A. county’s first confirmed COVID-19 infection on January 26, 2020.

The lower number of deaths and cases may reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

To date, Public Health has identified 1,149,064 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 18,135 deaths across all areas of L.A. County.

The number of people dying from COVID-19 in the county remains “distressingly high,” officials said in their Monday update.

On Sunday, February 7, L.A. County marked another tragic milestone by surpassing 18,000 COVID-19 deaths. The county has experienced more than 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths since February 2, when officials reported 17,057 total deaths.

“We offer our condolences to everyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one or a friend. You are not alone during these difficult times as our prayers and thoughts are with you and your families,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of L.A. County Public Health.

The average number of daily cases and current hospitalizations is, however, decreasing. The seven-day average number of daily cases peaked on January 8 with more than 15,000 cases and has now dropped by 77% to less than 5,000 a day. There are 4,186 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 29% of these people are in the ICU.

As of February 5, there were 4,608 average daily hospitalizations; a decrease of 45% from the peak of 8,065 average daily hospitalizations in early January.

Testing results are available for more than 5,612,000 individuals with 19% of people testing positive. Monday’s daily test positivity rate is 7.1%, continuing a downward trend.

“We are undertaking multi-faceted efforts at the Department of Public Health to both slow the transmission of this deadly virus as well as to guide the complex and important effort to vaccinate our many and diverse communities,” Ferrer said.

“Both efforts rely on cooperation and commitment from every resident in the county,” she said. “Collectively, we have responsibility for keeping each other alive while we wait our turns to get vaccinated. Nothing this past year has been easy or simple — yet much has been accomplished: we know to protect ourselves and others and we have an effective vaccine.”

See more SCV and L.A. County info and a vaccine update later in this report.

California Monday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Sunday, February 7, California Department of Public Health officials confirmed a total of 3,346,340 COVID-19 cases (up 10,414) with 44,150 deaths from the disease (up 208) since the pandemic began.

There are 11.385 confirmed hospitalizations and 3,240 ICU hospitalizations in the state, continuing a downward trend.

As of Sunday, local health departments have reported 89,507 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 367 deaths statewide.

There have been 44,323,550 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 329,228 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

The 7-day positivity rate is 5.0% and the 14-day positivity rate is 5.8%, continuing a downward trend.

Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results may include cases from prior to yesterday.

As of Sunday, providers have reported administering a total of 4,746,539 vaccine doses statewide. Those numbers also do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed.

The CDC reports that 7,119,225 doses have been delivered to entities within the state, and 7,556,800 vaccine doses, which includes the first and second dose, have been shipped.

See more California information later in this report.

Screencap from the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-19 dashboard, showing COVID deaths in the United States as of Monday afternoon, February 8, 2021.

U.S. Deaths Exceed 464,000 People; Global Deaths Top 2.3 Million People

Worldwide, 106,428,655 people have been infected by COVID-19 while 2,323,761 people have died of the virus as of 3:23 p.m. Monday Pacific Time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., more than 27,077,450 Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The number of people in the U.S. who have died due to the virus has now surpassed 464,768.

With 4.25% of the world’s population (328.2 million) and more than 20% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, the U.S. also continues to lead the world in deaths.

By comparison, Brazil (population 209.5 million) is No. 2 in deaths with 231,534, and No. 3 in cases with 9,524,640. India (population 1.353 billion) is No. 2 in cases, with 10,838,194 confirmed infections and No. 4 in deaths with 155,080 as of Monday afternoon.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Monday Update

The three new deaths reported Saturday and Monday bring Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital’s COVID-19 fatalities to 126 people since the pandemic began, spokesman Patrick Moody said.

In November, eight COVID patients died at Henry Mayo. In December, four times that many people — 34 — died at the hospital.

Henry Mayo reported 49 patient deaths due to COVID-19 in January 2021, and five people have died so far in February as of Monday, Moody confirmed.

Also as of Monday, 1 case is pending, 58 patients were hospitalized in dedicated COVID-19 units receiving ICU-level care (down five from Friday), and a total of 1,069 patients have been treated and discharged, Moody said.

Henry Mayo releases complete statistics weekly, usually on Wednesdays, unless one or more new deaths occur.

Privacy laws prohibit Henry Mayo from releasing the community of residence for patients who die at the hospital; residence info is reported by the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, which generally lags 48 hours behind.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update

As of 6 p.m. Saturday, the latest update of the L.A. County Public Health dashboard recorded 236 deaths among Santa Clarita Valley residents since the pandemic began, but did not include the two deaths reported Monday by Henry Mayo.

Of the 238 SCV residents who have died, 205 lived in Santa Clarita, 12 in Castaic, six in Acton, four in Stevenson Ranch, three in unincorporated Canyon Country, two in Agua Dulce, one in Newhall, one in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon, one in Lake Hughes, one in Val Verde, and two in communities not yet named.

Of the 24,801 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

* City of Santa Clarita: 18,092

* Castaic: 3,475 (incl. Pitchess Detention Center & North County Correctional Facility*)

* Stevenson Ranch: 988

* Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 733

* Acton: 408

* Val Verde: 168

* Agua Dulce: 239

* Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 168

* Saugus (unincorporated portion): 125

* Elizabeth Lake: 71

* Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 66

* Bouquet Canyon: 42

* Lake Hughes: 38

* Saugus/Canyon Country: 34

* Sand Canyon: 15

* San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 14

*Note: The county is unable to break out separate numbers for Castaic and PDC/NCCF because the county uses geotagging software that cannot be changed at this time, according to officials. Click here for the LASD COVID-19 dashboard.

Vaccine & Vaccination Update – Locations

While COVID-19 vaccine supply remains very limited, L.A. County Public Health continues to build an extensive network with pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, hospitals, health clinics, and community vaccination sites, including six large-capacity sites:

* Dodger Stadium (operated by the city of Los Angeles)

* Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy, Valencia 91355

* California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge 91330

* Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave, Pomona 91768

* The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood 90305

* L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey 90242

State and federal authorities will open another large-capacity vaccination site at California State University, Los Angeles, targeting underserved communities, on February 16, Gov. Newsom said Wednesday.

Public Health asks that residents don’t sign up to be vaccinated if it is not their turn. Signing up for a vaccine before it is your turn may take away an appointment from a high-risk person who is unlikely to be vaccinated when you show up for the appointment.

“Please do the right thing: wait your turn for a vaccine and allow those eligible for the vaccine to register and be vaccinated,” L.A. County Public Health’s Barbara Ferrer said.

Vaccine & Vaccination Update — Demographic Data

Public Health is receiving demographic data from the state vaccination registry that helps the County analyze who is getting vaccinated and where gaps are occurring. This data helps us reallocate supplies, including additional outreach and education resources, to ensure there is an equitable distribution of the vaccine.

Data analyzed to date include doses administered through February 4 and include vaccinations for healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and residents aged 65 and older who began getting vaccinated on January 20.

About 25% of all vaccine doses were administered to white residents, 25% to Latino/Latinx residents, 18% to Asian residents, and 17% to residents who identify as multi-racial. African American/Black residents have received only 3.5% of all administered doses highlighting a glaring inadequacy in the vaccine roll-out to-date.

Examining data on vaccinations of residents 65 and older indicates that 20% of this age group have received at least one dose of vaccine.

However, we are alarmed by the disproportionality we are seeing in who is receiving the vaccine; American Indian/Native Alaskan (9.3%), Black/African American (7.2%), and Latino/Latinx residents (14.3%) have lower vaccination rates than whites (29.4%), Asian (18.2%), and Pacific Islander residents (29.4%).

This early data shows us that we need to make it much easier for American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, and Latino/Latinx residents and workers to be vaccinated in their communities by providers they trust.

“This is a top priority for the Department of Public Health and we will continue to work with our community partners to ensure that we are not only getting everyone vaccinated quickly, but we are addressing the need to provide easier access to neighborhood sites and accurate information about the vaccines,” officials said.

One of Public Health’s commitments is to increase the number of vaccination sites in hard-hit communities. In total, there are 365 sites offering vaccinations this week. This includes 129 federally qualified health clinics, 208 pharmacies, 16 hospitals, and six community sites run by the city and county. Ten additional vaccination sites were added this week in East L.A. and South L.A., bringing the total number to 49 vaccination sites in these two communities.

Public Health is also working on strategies that improve access to vaccines for people who are older with limited mobility and needing assistance securing appointments. The department is organizing mobile teams to bring vaccinations directly to seniors living in housing developments or accessing senior centers in our hardest-hit communities.

Community health workers in the highly impacted communities will also go block by block to provide information to residents about how to get vaccinated while dispelling myths and misinformation about the vaccine.

In addition, Public Health is working to support neighborhood vaccination sites, and, as of Monday, have placed 60 volunteers from various universities at sites to provide assistance with data entry, cold-chain support, and licensed clinical vaccinators.

Scheduling an appointment right now is challenging because of the limited supply of vaccines that the county is receiving on a weekly basis. If you are currently eligible to receive a vaccine, Public Health encourages you to pull information together before going online or calling our call center. If you have insurance, have your insurance information at hand, along with the name and contact information for your primary care physician. You do not need to have insurance to get vaccinated.

If you can, visit www.VaccinateLACounty.com and to find the vaccination site closest to you, click on the MyTurn button where you can see how appointments are made. The MyTurn site also allows you to sign up to be notified when appointments open up, and when vaccinations begin with additional priority groups.

Additional staff has been assigned to the call center to help those without computer access make appointments. For those without access to a computer or the internet, or with disabilities, the call center is open to help schedule appointments daily from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 833-540-0473. The call center uses the same system as the online system and is a low-tech way for those with accessibility needs and older people who may not have a computer or a smartphone to make an appointment.

Although new cases of COVID-19 are declining, COVID-19 widespread transmission is still having an impact on healthcare workers and first responders. This past week, 840 healthcare workers tested positive for COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, 36,162 healthcare workers and first responders tested positive for COVID-19.

Slightly over half of the cases are among Latino/Latinx healthcare workers and 65% of cases are among women. There have been a total of 191 deaths among healthcare workers. Fifty-six percent of these deaths occurred among men which is an overrepresentation of deaths since the majority of cases are among women.

More than 77% of deaths are among healthcare workers who are age 50 and older; 47% are among Latino/Latinx healthcare workers and 31% are among Asian healthcare workers. The vast majority, 83%, of healthcare workers who died had underlying health conditions.

L.A. County Demographics — Deaths by Age Group

Of the 93 new deaths reported Monday, 41 people who passed away were over the age of 80, 22 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 21 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and six people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. Three deaths were reported by the City of Pasadena.

L.A. County Demographics — Cases by Age Group (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena)

* 0 to 4: 21479

* 5 to 11: 52094

* 12 to 17: 65126

* 18 to 29: 258394

* 30 to 49: 362440

* 50 to 64: 209544

* 65 to 79: 83340

* over 80: 29761

* Under Investigation 6731

L.A. County Public Health’s Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Governor Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.

With the Regional Stay at Home Order rescinded statewide as of January 25, all counties are now under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity.

* 54 counties are currently in the Purple Tier (including Los Angeles County)

* 1 county is currently in the Red Tier (Mariposa)

* 3 counties are currently in the Orange Tier (Alpine, Sierra, Trinity)

* No counties are in the Yellow Tier

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. Find the status of activities in specific counties.

Vaccinate All 58
In order to increase the pace of COVID-19 vaccine distribution to those at greatest risk, the state is prioritizing individuals 65 and older to receive the vaccine as demand subsides among health care workers. This effort will help to reduce hospitalizations and save lives.

To sign up for a notification when you’re eligible for a vaccine, visit myturn.ca.gov.

For more information on the vaccine effort, visit the Vaccinate All 58 webpage.

‘Safe Schools for All’ Plan
Governor Newsom launched the Safe Schools for All Hub as a one-stop-shop for information about safe in-person instruction.

For more information on the transparency, accountability, and assistance measures related to California’s Safe Schools for All plan, visit the hub.

Travel Advisory

California Public Health has issued an updated travel advisory. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

Non-essential travelers from other states or countries are strongly discouraged from entering California and should adhere to the state’s self-quarantine procedures for 10 days.

California Demographics: Health Equity Dashboard

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing inequities in health that are the result of structural racism and poverty, and the disproportionate prevalence of underlying conditions such as asthma and heart disease among Latinos and African Americans.

As part of its commitment to reduce health inequities and ensure the best outcomes for all Californians, the state has launched a Health Equity Dashboard on www.covid19.ca.gov/equity/ that tracks California’s health equity measure and data by race and ethnicity, age group, and sexual orientation/gender identity.

California Testing & Turnaround Time
More than 85 community testing sites offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

The testing turnaround dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. California has worked to reduce testing turnaround times in recent weeks to help curb the spread of the virus.

During the week of January 17 to January 23, the average time patients waited for test results was 1.2 days. During this same time period, 74% of patients received test results in one day and 92% received them within two days. The testing turnaround time dashboard (PDF) is updated weekly.

All four tiers in the Testing Prioritization Guidance originally dated July 14, 2020, have equal priority for testing.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

Each week, the California Department of Public Health updates the number of cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported in the state.

As of February 1, there have been 200 cases of MIS-C reported statewide, 12 more than the previous week. To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, we are not providing total counts at this time.

MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life-threatening. Parents should be aware of the signs and symptoms of MIS-C including fever that does not go away, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling tired.

Contact your child’s doctor immediately if your child has these symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment of patients are critical to preventing long-term complications.

Protect Yourself and Your Family: Your Actions Save Lives

Protect yourself, family, friends, and community by following these prevention measures:

* Staying home except for essential needs/activities following local and state public health guidelines when patronizing approved businesses. To the extent that sectors are re-opened, Californians may leave their homes to work at, patronize, or otherwise engage with those businesses, establishments or activities.

* Avoiding non-essential travel, and practicing self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival if you leave the state.

* Keeping interactions to people who live in your household.

* Wearing a cloth face mask when out in public.

* Washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.

* Avoiding touching eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

* Covering a cough or sneeze with your sleeve or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward.

* Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

* Staying away from work, school, or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.

* Getting tested if you believe you’ve been exposed. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

* Getting vaccinated when it’s your turn.

* Adding your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

* Answering the call if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or local health department tries to connect.

* Following guidance from public health officials.

What to Do if You Think You’re Sick

Call ahead: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath), call your healthcare provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.

It’s important if someone thinks they could be positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting testing results to stay at home and act as if they are positive. This means self-isolating for 10 days and 72 hours after symptoms and fever subside.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should plan on receiving a call from a public health specialist to discuss how to protect themselves and others, find out where they may have been, and who they were in close contact with while infectious.

California COVID-19 Data and Tools

A wide range of data and analysis guides California’s response to COVID-19. The state is making the data and its analytical tools available to researchers, scientists and the public at covid19.ca.gov.

* The Statewide COVID-19 Dashboard

* The California COVID-19 Assessment Tool (CalCAT)

* State Cases and Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Age Group

* COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data

* COVID-19 Hospital Data and Case Statistics

* View additional datasets at the California Open Data Portal (including Testing Data, PPE Logistics Data, Hospital Data, Homeless Impact and more)

Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.

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Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus (COVID-19):

* Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

* California Department of Public Health

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

* Spanish

* World Health Organization

* Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard

L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1.

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