Los Angeles County continued making progress on the journey to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, with daily case rates continuing to drop.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) officials announced Tuesday that the county was making progress in efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, just as the state announced that full re-opening of California’s economy was expected by early summer.

“L.A. County continues making progress and we appreciate the efforts of businesses and residents to keep everyone safe,” said LADPH director Dr. Barbara Ferrer. “When we follow the safety measures and keep vaccinating people efficiently, effectively and equitability, it prevents transmission and a surge in cases. The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter every day we keep transmission low and more people get vaccinated.” 

Los Angeles County recently moved to the orange tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy that allowed the County to expand permitted activities in several key sectors including bars, breweries, wineries, and distilleries, family entertainment centers, gyms, movie theatres, restaurants, retail establishments, grocery stores, and outdoor live events with required safety measures in place including masking and distancing requirements.

Now that 4 million people have been vaccinated who are living in communities across the state in the Healthy Places Index quartile 1, L.A. County’s daily case rate must be at or below 5.9 new cases per 100,000 people and the County’s test positivity rate must be at or below 4.9 percent to remain in the orange tier. 

To move to the less restrictive yellow tier the County’s case rate must be less than 2 new cases per 100,000 people and test positivity must be less than 2 percent, according to LADPH officials. 

On Tuesday, the State released updated numbers; L.A. County’s adjusted case rate remained at 3.1 new cases per 100,000 people. The test positivity rate dropped from 1.5 percent to 1.4 percent and in areas with the fewest health affirming resources, L.A. County’s test positivity rate dropped from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent.

The State also announced today, that on June 15, California will fully reopen the state if there is enough vaccine supply for Californians 16 years and older to be vaccinated and hospitalizations rates remain stable and low, especially among fully vaccinated Californians.

An additional 406 COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths were reported across L.A. County Tuesday, according to officials.

This brings the county’s cumulative total to 1,222,778 positive cases of COVID-19 and 23,292 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the LADPH officials.

Testing results are available for over 6,142,000 people, with a cumulative 18 percent of people testing positive, according to officials.

LADPH officials are reminding the public that people are only considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after a single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

As of Monday, there were 568 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in L.A. County, 25 percent of which are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The Southern California Region has 32.1 percent staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of the state’s last update on Tuesday, April 6, according to state health officials.

Residents are encouraged to continue to prevent the spread of COVID-19, to not gather in crowds, stay home when sick, wear a face covering and maintain physical distance from others when outside of the home.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, 15 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 26,513 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley over the past year, according to the LADPH. These cases include:

• 20,043 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+8)
• 47 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 829 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country
• 3,697 in Castaic* (+7)
• 68 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
• 1 in Placerita Canyon
• 15 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
• 17 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
• 128 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
• 38 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
• 1,123 in Stevenson Ranch
• 335 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+1)
• 187 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia

*As of Friday, April 2, public health officials have recorded 1,985 cumulative cases have been reported at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center, including 1,446 at the North County Correctional Facility. Those cases are distributed between both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals. Those cases are distributed between both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals.

In nearby Acton, there have been 463 cumulative cases, as well as 273 (+6) cases in Agua Dulce.

There were six COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Wednesday, March 10, while 1,171 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March 2020, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.

One additional death was reported at Henry Mayo on Monday, March 8, with a total of 145 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 264 COVID-19 deaths reported across the Santa Clarita Valley since March 2020.

Check the Vaccinate L.A. County Website or follow @LAPublicHealth on social media for more information on when and where people in these sectors can get vaccinated.

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

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