Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) officials continue to report a decline in the number of hospitalizations and new coronavirus cases Wednesday.

LADPH Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer updated L.A. County residents on the current status of coronavirus in the county, as well as providing information on the vaccination process.

“The decreases that we see are meaningful and they’re all good news, but the numbers still remain higher than the numbers we saw back in autumn. These numbers continuing to decrease is not a given,” Ferrer cautioned. “This will only continue if we’re all in the game and we’re all using the tools we have at hand.”

Ferrer also noted that due to the current vaccine dose allocations, the current vaccination rate would not allow the county to reach full herd immunity by spring.

An additional 2,394 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, along with 162 deaths, according to the LADPH.

This brings the county’s cumulative total to 1,171,664 positive cases of COVID-19 and 19,368 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the department.

Testing results are available for over 5,714,530 people, with 19 percent of people testing positive.

Public health officials also reported four additional cases of the U.K. COVID-9 variant in L.A. County on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, there were 2,855 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 31 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The Southern California Region has 14.8% staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of the state’s last update on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 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.

A travel advisory remains in effect for L.A. County. Anyone who is arriving in Los Angeles County must self-quarantine for 10 days. Residents are asked to remain at home or lodging for the 10 days and avoid contact with others.

See Related: L.A. County Hits Threshold To Re-Open TK-6 In-Person Learning

On Tuesday, 57 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 24,606 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:

• 18,543 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+47)
• 42 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 756 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+2)
• 3,529 in Castaic* (+2)
• 66 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
• 14 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
• 15 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
• 126  in the unincorporated areas of Saugus (+1)
• 35 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
• 1,007 in Stevenson Ranch (+3)
• 302 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+1)
• 171 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia (+1)

In nearby Acton, there have been 425 cumulative cases (+3), as well as 246 cases in Agua Dulce.

*As of Sunday, Feb. 14, public health officials have recorded 1,956 cumulative cases have been reported at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center, including 1,425 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.

There were 39 COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Friday, Feb. 12, while 1,099 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March 2020, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.

Three additional deaths were reported at Henry Mayo on Friday, with a total of 133 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 227 COVID-19 deaths reported across the Santa Clarita Valley since March 2020.

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

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.