Los Angeles County officials announced that they planned to reopen outdoor dining in Los Angeles County “by the end of the week,” to match new state guidelines Monday.

An additional 6,642 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Monday, along with 46 deaths, according to officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH).

The new numbers are very low due to a lag in reporting from over the weekend, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the LADPH.

“We are headed in the right direction. However, these numbers remain very high, and they continue to strain the health care system,” said Ferrer.

The new cases reported today bring the county’s cumulative total to 1,079,396 positive cases of COVID-19 and 15,303 deaths since March 2020, according to the department.

The new cases come after an announcement by the State of California that the regional stay-at-home order has been lifted, allowing certain industries such as outdoor dining and indoor personal care services to resume in counties across the state.

While a November 2019 County Board of Supervisors decision to close outdoor dining prevents the immediate reopening of in-person dining at Los Angeles County restaurants, officials plan to realign with state restrictions by the end of the week, according to L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Jan. 26, 2021 marks the one year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in L.A. County, according to Ferrer.

As of Monday, there were 6,486 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 25 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

On Thursday, health officials announced that the 7-day average of new cases had decreased by 30 percent, and hospitalizations had also gone down 7 percent since last week.

Testing results are available for nearly 5,300,000 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 Saturday.

On Monday, 149 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 22,431 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:

• 16,822 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+123)
• 39 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 670 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+5)
• 3,352 in Castaic* (+5)
• 61 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall (+2)
• 112 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
• 29 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country (+2)
• 907 in Stevenson Ranch (+5)
• 154 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia (+3)
• 259 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+4)
• 13 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
• 13 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon

In nearby Acton, there have been 380 (+5) cumulative cases, as well as 203 (+5) cases in Agua Dulce.

*As of Sunday, Jan. 23, 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.

There were 74 COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Monday, Jan. 25, while 968 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 Monday, with a total of 112 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 169 COVID-19 deaths reported across the Santa Clarita Valley since March 2020.

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

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