Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) urged residents to avoid non-essential travel during the upcoming Spring Break season, warning that it “has the ability to derail our recovery journey.”

While COVID-19 numbers have continued to decrease in L.A. County, LADPH officials say that transmission remains widespread and that postponing travel and staying home is the “best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 during this pandemic.”

“We may just be weeks away from reducing transmission in L.A. County enough so that additional re-openings are permitted,” LADPH Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said in a statement Thursday. “However, with increased case numbers in other states, and more circulating variants of concern, spring travel can lead to another surge that frankly would be almost impossible to tolerate. Travel increases the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. To avoid this, please postpone travel and continue doing your part to slow the spread so that our recovery journey isn’t sidelined.”

An additional 2,253 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Thursday, along with 119 deaths.

This brings the county’s cumulative total to 1,198,098 positive cases of COVID-19 and 21,778 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH).

Testing results are available for over 5,866,000 people, with a cumulative 19 percent of people testing positive.

As of Thursday, there were 1,401 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 32 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The Southern California Region has 25.3% staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of the state’s last update on Tuesday, March 2, 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 10 days and avoid contact with others.

On Thursday, 84 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 25,509 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:

• 19,242 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+70)
• 44 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
• 794 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+2)
• 3,603 in Castaic* (+4)
• 66 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
• 1 in Placerita Canyon
• 14 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
• 17 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
• 132 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus (+1)
• 40 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
• 1,060 in Stevenson Ranch (+1)
• 314 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+5)
• 182 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia (+1)

*As of Tuesday, March 2, public health officials have recorded 1,977 cumulative cases have been reported at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center, including 1,439 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 450 (+4) cumulative cases, as well as 254 cases in Agua Dulce.

There were 12 COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Wednesday, March 3, while 1,157 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 Wednesday, with a total of 144 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 254 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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