An additional 18 Santa Clarita Valley coronavirus cases have been reported, part of 713 cases reported across Los Angeles County on Tuesday.

The new COVID-19 cases bring the Santa Clarita Valley cumulative total to 6,679 and the countywide total to 290,009, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

39 additional deaths were reported Tuesday, bringing the cumulative total in L.A. County to 6,912 deaths, according to the department.

“Our hearts go out to all the families and friends who are grieving a loved one lost to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health. “The more we gather with people we don’t live with, the more we don’t use the tools we have to slow the spread of the virus when out and about, the more the risk of being exposed to COVID-19 and the more the likelihood we see more COVID-19 cases. L.A. County remains in Tier 1 on the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy indicating that community transmission is widespread. Continuing our recovery journey requires that each of us make choices that minimize exposing ourselves and others to this deadly virus.”

The low number of cases reported Tuesday reflects a lag in testing from over the weekend, according to public health officials.

An estimated 2,913,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted as of Tuesday, with about 9 percent of those tests returning positive.

Although Los Angeles County met the State’s metric thresholds for Tier 2 last month, L.A. County remains in Tier 1 due to the current adjusted daily case rate of 9 cases per 100,000 residents.

Per the State guidelines, to move to Tier 2, the County’s case rate needs to be 7 or fewer new cases a day per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks. The County’s test positivity rate is 3.7 percent which places the County in Tier 3 for this metric, according to public health.

There are 730 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, 30 percent of which are in the ICU.

As of Tuesday, a total of 6,661 cumulative cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Santa Clarita Valley since testing began in March. These include:

• 3,960 in the City of Santa Clarita*
• 163 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country
• 2,153 in Castaic*
• 28 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
• 189 in Stevenson Ranch
• 52 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia
• 91 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde
• 15 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
• 11 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 10 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
• Seven in unincorporated Sand Canyon

As of Sunday, Oct. 18, officials had recorded 1,361 cumulative cases among prisoners at the North County Correctional Facility, and 513 at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center. Those cases are distributed between both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals.

Additionally, 78 cumulative cases were confirmed in nearby Acton as well as 30 in Agua Dulce.

An analysis of available data indicates that as of Sunday, Oct. 18, approximately 28.2 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, Oct. 20, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital has conducted 9,622 COVID-19 tests. Of those, 994 have tested positive, and 30 tests are still pending with Henry Mayo, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.

There are 12 patients in the hospital as of Wednesday, while 289 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March, according to Moody.

One additional death at Henry Mayo was reported Wednesday bringing, with a total of 30 COVID-19 deaths have been reported at Henry Mayo, with the Santa Clarita Valley’s total standing at least 68, according to public health officials.

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

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