SCVNews.com | Monday COVID-19 Roundup: 2 New Vaccination Sites Open in SCV, Palmdale; 27,588 Total SCV Cases

Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Monday confirmed 18 new deaths and 337 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, as cases in the Santa Clarita Valley now total 27,588 since the pandemic began.

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

To date, Public Health identified 1,229,311 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 23,641 deaths.

“We are sending our love and prayers to those who have lost friends and family during this time of tragedy. Our thoughts are with you,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

COVID-19 case numbers have stabilized over the past few weeks.

On April 11, the county saw a daily average of 414 reported cases, down 98% from 15,933 at the peak of the surge.

Hospitalizations decreased to 478, down 94% from their peak daily average of 8,065 during the surge, and average daily deaths declined 97% from a peak of 274 average daily deaths to 7.

“We in Los Angeles are in a good place right now,” said Ferrer, “and we have an opportunity to chart a different course from the one we’re seeing play out in other parts of the country. But we can only do it together.

There are 470 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for nearly 6,330,000 individuals with 18% of people testing positive.

Today’s daily test positivity rate is 0.9%.

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

California Monday Snapshot

Statewide, as of Sunday, April 18, California Department of Public Health officials confirmed 3,618,695 COVID-19 cases (up 1,916) with 57,772 deaths from the disease (up 4) since the pandemic began.

As of April 6, local health departments have reported 104,727 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and 447 deaths statewide.

There are 1,779 people in hospitals statewide undergoing treatment for COVID-19, with 404 people in the ICU.

As of April 18, local health departments have reported 106,056 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 451 deaths statewide.

The 7-day positivity rate is 1.4%.

There have been 57,934,087 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 200,627 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of April 19, providers have reported administering a total of 25,790,401 vaccine doses statewide.

The CDC reports that 31,625,990 doses have been delivered to entities within the state.

Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed.

See more California information later in this report.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Monday Update

Note: Data was not available Monday, however, as of Wednesday, April 14, there were no cases pending, six patients were hospitalized in a dedicated COVID-19 unit, and a total of 1,205 patients had been treated and discharged since the pandemic began, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

There were no additional deaths, keeping the total deaths at 147 people to date. The most recent death was March 21.

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.

Santa Clarita Valley Monday Update

As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard recorded 298 deaths among Santa Clarita Valley residents since the pandemic began.

The following is the community breakdown of the 298 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

* 257 lived in Santa Clarita

* 17 in Castaic

* 6 in Acton

* 5 in Stevenson Ranch

* 3 in Agua Dulce

* 3 in unincorporated Canyon Country

* 1 in Valencia

* 1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

* 1 in Elizabeth Lake

* 1 in Lake Hughes

* 1 in Newhall

* 1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

* 1 in Val Verde

Of the 27,588 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

* City of Santa Clarita: 20,200

* Castaic: 3,711 (incl. Pitchess Detention Center & North County Correctional Facility*)

* Stevenson Ranch: 1,134

* Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 836

* Acton: 469

* Val Verde: 336

* Agua Dulce: 278

* Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 191

* Saugus (unincorporated portion): 128

* Elizabeth Lake: 76

* Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 68

* Bouquet Canyon: 47

* Lake Hughes: 41

* Saugus/Canyon Country: 38

* Sand Canyon: 17

* San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 15

* Placerita Canyon: 1

*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.

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

* 0 to 4: 29048

* 5 to 11: 55498

* 12 to 17: 69581

* 18 to 29: 275972

* 30 to 49: 387497

* 50 to 64: 225006

* 65 to 79: 89566

* over 80: 32615

* Under Investigation 679

L.A. County Vaccine/Vaccinations Update

More than 6,000,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people across Los Angeles County.

Of these, 4,080,126 were first doses and 2,239,672 were second doses. Over 4 million people have some additional protection against COVID-19 and over 2 million people are fully protected.

More than 70% of L.A. County residents 65 and older received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Countywide, 711 vaccination sites are open this week and administering Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, including two new sites in Palmdale and Santa Clarita, the Palmdale Oasis Park Recreation Center and the College of the Canyons. There are still appointments available at these sites for this week.

The CDC announced last week that about 5,800 breakthrough infections have been identified nationwide out of 77 million fully vaccinated people; this means that about 1 out of every 10,000 people vaccinated test positive for the virus. Among individuals fully vaccinated, less than 1 in a million have died. Currently, across the US, about 1 in every 56 people infected with COVID-19 have passed away from their infections. Before vaccines were available, about 1.8% of people who were infected with COVID-19 died of their infections. If we extrapolate these findings to L.A. County, and everyone in the county was fully vaccinated, the County would have only 753 breakthrough COVID-19 infections and 8 deaths. This is why getting everyone vaccinated is so important. Of the 18 new deaths reported today, six people that passed away were over the age of 80, 10 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and one person who died was between the ages of 30 and 49.

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Paused

Since the CDC and FDA announced the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s administration on April 13, 70% of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses have been replaced with Pfizer and Moderna doses.

There may be an announcement at the end of this week about the vaccine’s safety from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. L.A. County will follow the CDC and FDA directives on when it is safe to resume administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

There are 95 mobile vaccination teams scheduled to administer vaccinations this week at senior housing sites, senior centers, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations. These mobile sites are critical to our effort to vaccinate hard-hit communities with either lower vaccination rates or lack of access.

In the coming weeks, an additional 237 mobile vaccination sites are scheduled throughout our county.

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

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

* College of the Canyons, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91355

* Palmdale Oasis Park Recreation Center, 3850 E Ave S, Palmdale, CA 93550

* 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

* California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles 90032 (operated by FEMA)

For more information about who is eligible for COVID-19 vaccine in L.A. County, how to make an appointment if it is your turn, what verifications you will need to show at your vaccination appointment, and much more, visit www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

L.A. County Schools Begin Staged Reopenings

Over the past few weeks, many L.A. County schools began a staged reopening. Currently, 77% of public school districts are open, as are 43% of private and charter schools; this means that more than 1,600 schools are open for in-classroom instruction.

An additional 5 public school districts and 113 private and charter schools have approved plans to reopen.

On random site visits from the Public Health Schools Technical Assistance Team, school compliance with Public Health safety protocols was very high: half of all schools had perfect compliance, while an additional 45% had higher than 80% compliance.

This is great news for students and school staff, and we appreciate the hard work of everyone in our schools to keep each other safe and healthy.

From the beginning of the school year through April 15, the County has seen only a handful of outbreaks in schools since the surge.

All of the five active outbreaks in L.A. County schools that are currently under investigation are associated with participation in youth sports – not with attending instructional school.

We know that masking and distancing are a challenge in sports, and that socializing during these activities off-school-campus could be a factor in viral transmission among these groups.

That’s why it’s important for young people 16 and 17 to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The data indicates three things: The tools deployed in safety protocols at schools are incredibly powerful, even though they’re fairly simple, masking and social distancing really work.

Second, when it comes to COVID-19, students have good protection as long as safety protocols are followed.

And lastly, COVID-19 transmission in school staff is driven not so much by their exposure to the infection at school, but primarily by exposure in the community.

Whenever community transmission rates were high, there were more cases at schools.

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.

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.

The California Department of Public Health modified Blueprint thresholds on March 12 after the state successfully met its first vaccine equity milestone of 2 million administered vaccine doses in some of the state’s hardest-hit communities.

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. The Blueprint summary as of April 13:

* 0 counties are currently in the Purple (widespread) Tier

* 22 counties are currently in the Red (substantial) Tier (including Los Angeles County)

* 33 counties are currently in the Orange (moderate) Tier

* 3 counties are in the Yellow (minimal) Tier

As of April 1, the state’s reopening framework allowed outdoor ballparks, stadiums, and theme parks to open with significantly reduced capacity, mandatory masking, and other public health precautions.

Find the status of activities in specific counties.

Increased Transparency and Updated School Reopening Maps

The school reopening maps on the Safe Schools Hub have been updated with self-reported data from school districts, charter schools, and private schools throughout the state. Schools are required to submit this data on the second and fourth Monday of each month.

This is the first update with data pursuant to AB 86 and includes:

School-Level Data: Reopening status can be searched for and viewed not only on a district-wide basis, but also a school-by-school basis.

Enrollment Data: The maps display data not only on the instructional modes offered, but also on the number of students enrolled in different instructional modes: full-time in-person, hybrid, and distance learning.

Note: The self-reported data may include some gaps in data and errors. The maps will be routinely updated to reflect new data, and the state will continue to improve data quality and visualizations.

Vaccinate All 58 Eligibility Update

With the supply of vaccines expected to significantly increase in the coming weeks, the state is expanding vaccine eligibility to more Californians.

As of April 1, people aged 50+ statewide are eligible to make an appointment to be vaccinated, and individuals 16+ will be eligible to make an appointment starting April 15.

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 Vaccinate All 58.

Tracking Variants

Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been identified globally during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These genetic mutations are expected, and some emerge and then disappear, while others persist or become common. Most variants do not have a meaningful impact.

Public health becomes concerned about a variant when it affects COVID-19 transmission, severity, testing, treatment, or vaccine effectiveness.

Get more information here on the variants CDPH is currently monitoring.

‘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 Updated

California Public Health California updated its travel advisory on April 2, removing the previous recommendation that Californians not travel more than 120 miles from ones’ place of residence.

Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, and Californians should continue to avoid non-essential travel outside of the state.

Non-essential travelers from other states or countries are strongly discouraged from entering California and should follow CDC travel guidance related to testing and self-quarantine.

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 March 28 to April 3, the average time patients waited for test results was just under one day. During this same time period, 84% of patients received test results in one day and 98% 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 April 12, 470 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide, five more than last week. To protect patient confidentiality in counties with fewer than 11 cases, CDPH officials 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 limited 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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