Los Angeles County Sees Lowest Daily New Coronavirus Cases Since June

Posted by: KHTS Newsroom in Coronavirus, Santa Clarita Latest News August 25, 2020 - 3:58 pm 0 1,663 Views

33 new Santa Clarita coronavirus cases have been confirmed Tuesday, with 989 additional cases being confirmed within Los Angeles County.

This is the first time the number of reported new cases has been under 1,000 since the beginning of June. In mid to late July, the daily reported number of new cases was around 3,200 cases per day, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH).

The Santa Clarita Valley cumulative total is now 5,143, and the L.A. County total of cumulative coronavirus cases stands at 233,777 as of Tuesday, according to Public Health.

The state is monitoring all counties on six indicators to determine their progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19. These indicators include testing capacity, how much transmission of the virus is happening in the community, how many people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, and the capacity of hospitals to care for people with COVID-19 with adequate numbers of available Intensive Care Unit beds and ventilators.

L.A. County is meeting five of the state’s six indicators, only missing the mark on the threshold of having less than 100 cases per 100,000 residents. As of Tuesday, Aug. 25, the case rate per 100,000 people is 196 cases per 100,000 residents, according to Public Health.

Public Health is working to assess the new guidance issued today by the State to determine what additional adjustments may be needed before opening up the waiver process.

A total of 1,200 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 throughout L.A. County, according to Public Health.

Of those hospitalized, 32 percent of patients are in the intensive care unit (ICU) as of Tuesday, according to the department.

The state has determined there has been under-reporting of COVID-19 cases due to technical issues with the electronic laboratory system (ELR), but the backlogged results are expected to become available in the coming days according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

Public Health has noted issues with the State electronic lab reporting system for over three weeks.

Once the data reporting issues are fixed, the number of cases is expected to increase, according to the department.

Data sources that track other key indicators, including hospitalizations and deaths, are not affected by this reporting issue.

Testing results are available for over 2,207,000 individuals as of Tuesday, with a daily positivity rate of 10 percent, according to public health officials.

51 additional deaths have been reported within the county Tuesday, for a total of 5,605 recorded people who have died due to coronavirus in Los Angeles County since March.

As of Tuesday, a total of 5,143 cumulative cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Santa Clarita Valley since testing began in March. These include:

2,851 in the City of Santa Clarita*
112 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country
1,891 in Castaic*
26 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
146 in Stevenson Ranch
40 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia
59 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde
Six in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
Six in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
One in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
Five in unincorporated Sand Canyon

*As of Monday, Aug. 24, officials had recorded 1,322 cumulative cases among prisoners at the North County Correctional Facility, and 496 at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center. Those cases are counted in both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals.

Additionally, 58 cumulative cases have been confirmed in nearby Acton as well as 24 in Agua Dulce

An analysis of available data indicates that as of Wednesday, Aug. 19, reads that approximately 35.6 percent of all cumulative cases in and around the Santa Clarita Valley can be attributed to the inmate population at the North County Correctional Facility and the Pitchess Detention Center.

As of Wednesday, Aug. 19, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital has conducted 6,236 COVID-19 tests. Of those, 748 have tested positive, and 22 tests are still pending with Henry Mayo, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.

There are seven patients in the hospital as of Wednesday, while 226 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March, according to Moody. This is a decrease of two hospitalized patients since last Wednesday.

See All Coronavirus Coverage: Coronavirus Coverage – COVID-19 Map