Los Angeles County reported nearly 8,000 new cases Tuesday as the county opened five new large scale vaccinations centers across the southland, officials said.

An additional 7,902 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, along with 186 deaths, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the  L.A. County Department of Public Health.

“The loss and devastation from COVID-19 is being felt by many of L.A. County residents; we mourn with you and wish you peace during this extremely difficult time,” said Ferrer. “After an exhausting, year-long battle with this highly contagious and deadly virus, we now have a vaccine that is safe, effective and will save lives. The vaccines also do more than protect the person getting vaccinated; the more people in a community who are vaccinated and protected from COVID-19, the harder it is for this virus to spread. However, this process will take several months and so we ask for your understanding and patience.”

The new cases reported today bring the county’s cumulative total to 1,031,874 positive cases of COVID-19 and 14,122 deaths since March 2020, according to the department.

As of Tuesday, there were 7,322 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 24 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

See Related: ‘Large-Scale’ COVID-19 Vaccine Site Opens At Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain is one of five sites chosen by public health officials for their regional accessibility and their ability to handle large capacities of people. The complete list of the sites are:

• Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768
• The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90305
• California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330
• L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey, CA 90242
• Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy, Valencia, CA 91355

“In L.A. County, we have to vaccinate 10 million people, twice,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement issued Friday. “These large-scale vaccination sites are going to help us get there by massively increasing our capacity to vaccinate people quickly and efficiently.”

Officials say that L.A. County aims to complete 500,000 free-of-charge vaccinations among healthcare workers by the end of January.

Currently, only prioritized groups such as frontline healthcare workers, residents and staff in nursing facilities, and other long-term care facilities are eligible for vaccination, as identified by the state and the Centers for Disease Control.

Testing results are available for over 5,266,000 people, with 19 percent of people testing positive.

According to California health officials, the Southern California Region has 0.0% staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of Monday.

Health officials say that at its current rate, one person in Los Angeles County dies of COVID-19 every eight minutes.

For those who have just returned from a trip outside of Los Angeles County, they must quarantine in place for 10 days and monitor for symptoms for 14 days. Testing is suggested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or if one is possibly exposed to someone who was positive.

On Tuesday, 139 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 21,443 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:

• 15,994 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+115)
• 38 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 643 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+3)
• 3,297 in Castaic* (+9)
• 59 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
• 109 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
• 26 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
• 864 in Stevenson Ranch (+11)
• 143 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia
• 245 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+1)
• 13 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
• 12 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon

In nearby Acton, there have been 369 cumulative cases (+3), as well as 190 (+2) cases in Agua Dulce.

*As of Saturday, Jan. 16, 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.

As of Monday, Jan. 18 Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital had two coronavirus tests still pending, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.

There were 90 COVID-19 patients in the hospital as of Wednesday, Jan. 13, while 893 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March 2020, according to Moody.

Seven additional deaths were reported Monday, with a total of 103 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 153 COVID-19 deaths reported across the Santa Clarita Valley since March 2020.

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

Ed. Note: These numbers are subject to change based on further investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

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