SCV News | Weekly COVID-19 Roundup: Staying Safe During Fourth of July
Uploaded: , Thursday, Jun 22, 2023
By Press Release
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 63 new cases and one new death from COVID-19 in the Santa Clarita Valley within the last week.
Public Health is now reporting COVID-19 data every Thursday. This is the most recent data from June 22.
This new data brings Los Angeles County death totals to 36,482, case totals to 3,753,381 and Santa Clarita Valley case totals to 99,775 since March of 2020. SCV deaths from COVID-19 increase to 566.
Fourth of July Safety Tips
As this week marks the official start of summer, Public Health wants to remind residents of several straightforward measures they can take to help prevent illness or injury from interrupting their Fourth of July celebrations and other activities.
Summertime offers opportunities to attend outdoor events and get-togethers with family and friends, that unfortunately can also result in sunburn, dehydration, food and mosquito-borne illness, firework injuries and increased COVID-19 transmission if precautions are not taken. To help safeguard this summer’s fun in the sun, Public Health is offering safety tips to Los Angeles County residents.
While COVID-19 indicators remain low in Los Angeles County, risk remains, especially for people who are older or immunocompromised. To avoid inadvertently spreading COVID-19 to others, anyone with possible symptoms, such as a cough, runny nose, fever or headache, should stay home. For extra assurance, Public Health recommends testing for anyone who has symptoms, has been exposed to COVID-19 or if they are attending a gathering with someone at higher risk for severe illness from COVID. Free tests continue to be available across Los Angeles County. More information and site locations are available at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDtests.
To reduce the risk of heat-related illness, consider seeking shade or going indoors when the sun is warmest between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., using a broad spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher, and wearing protective clothing, including hats and long sleeves. Call 911 if someone is experiencing possible sun poisoning symptoms, such as high body temperature, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or pale and clammy skin.
When spending time outdoors in the sun, be sure to stay hydrated. Consider carrying a reusable bottle and sipping throughout the day, especially during physical activities or when consuming caffeine or alcohol, which can be dehydrating. Symptoms of dehydration, indicating that a person may need to drink more liquids, include dry mouth or lips, headaches or light headedness. Hydrating foods, such as melon, berries, or cucumbers, also can be added to menus.
Think about food safety when planning celebrations, whether hosting a party or going on an outing. Make sure that meats are cooked to the proper temperatures: 160-degrees Fahrenheit for ground meats, poultry and eggs and 145-degrees Fahrenheit for steaks, roasts and fish. Cold foods should be stored at 40-degrees Fahrenheit or lower and leftovers need to be refrigerated or thrown away after two hours.
Foodborne illness can appear as stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhea in the hours or days after eating contaminated food and can be severe, and in some cases, life-threatening for older adults, young children, pregnant people and those who are immunocompromised. A simple food thermometer can help make sure food is being stored at safe temperatures and ice and coolers should be available to store food at outdoor events.
Mosquitos are abundant in many parts of the county. Using effective insect repellent when outdoors and wearing protective clothing covering arms and legs can help prevent annoying bites and potential exposure to mosquito-borne illnesses including West Nile virus.
Many Fourth of July celebrations feature fireworks. Personal use of fireworks is illegal in Los Angeles County and children should not be allowed to handle or ignite fireworks. Never hold a lit firework and do not try to reignite a firework that does not go off or malfunctions. To safely enjoy a firework show, grab a blanket or chairs and enjoy one of the many public displays being held throughout Los Angeles County.
At any event or gathering, there is always the possibility of contracting COVID-19. If a person tests positive, it is important they inform others who have been exposed. Many people who test positive are eligible for COVID-19 treatment, which is widely available and must be started within five days of symptom onset. Health care providers can prescribe an oral therapeutic for COVID-19, which is shown to reduce the chance for severe illness and hospitalization, or free telehealth services are available through the Public Health Call Center, open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., by phoning 1-833-540-0473.
Residents looking for more information or additional tips about staying safe this summer can visit ph.lacounty.gov/media/summer.
COVID-19 strains currently circulating in Los Angeles County are all descendants of the Omicron variant. For the most recent two-week period ending May 27, 2023, XBB.1.5 was the dominant strain, accounting for 50 percent of sequenced specimens, a decrease from 63 percent during the two-week period prior. The second most dominant strain is XBB.1.9.1, accounting for 13 percent of sequenced specimens, followed by XBB.1.16, accounting for 9 percent of sequenced specimens. Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) modeling for California and surrounding states, it is predicted that as of June 10, XBB.1.5 remains dominant, accounting for nearly 40 percent of COVID-19 cases with XBB.1.16 being the second most dominant, accounting for over 17 percent of cases.
The CDC has replaced COVID-19 Community Levels with Hospital Admission Levels, which can help individuals and communities decide which prevention actions they can take based on the most recent information. Los Angeles County is in the Low Hospital Admission Level with 2.7 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people, reported as of June 15, 2023.
Public Health reports COVID-19 data weekly. The following table shows case, wastewater, emergency department, hospitalization and death data in Los Angeles County over the past four weeks.
1) Case counts are an underrepresentation of the true number of infections, largely due to home tests which are not reported to DPH. Despite this, the trend in reported case counts from week to week is still an indicator of overall trends in transmission.
2) Weekly case and death counts represent the number of cases and deaths reported for the week ending each Tuesday. The date a case/death is reported by DPH is not the same as the date of testing or death.
3) Time periods covered by each metric: wastewater = week ending each Saturday, with a one-week lag; ED data = week ending each Sunday; hospitalizations = week ending each Saturday.
4) Data for past weeks is subject to change in future reports.
A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.
 – COVID-19 Response Plan
 – COVID-19 Vaccinations
 – Skilled Nursing Facility Metrics
Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:
 – Los Angeles County Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.
– California Department of Public Health: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/
– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/
– CDC Spanishhttps://espanol.cdc.
– World Health Organization https://www.who.
– LA County residents can also call 2-1-1
William S. Hart Union High School District COVID-19 Dashboard
Since the State of Emergency has been lifted, the William S. Hart Union High School District will no longer be posting dashboard information.
Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard reported one additional deaths from COVID-19 in Stevenson Ranch, bringing the total number of deaths in the SCV to 566.
NOTE: As of Dec. 20, 2022, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health switched to a new geocoding process to improve the accuracy and completeness of geocoded data. Geocoding is the process of assigning an address to specific geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude). As a result, approximately 1,500 cases (0.04%) were removed from the cumulative count as they were determined to be out of jurisdiction with the improved geocoding. The switch to this improved process also resulted in minor changes to cumulative case/death counts by Supervisor District, Service Planning Area, city/community, and area poverty categories.
The following is the community breakdown per L.A. County’s dashboard:
Santa Clarita: 461
Castaic: 30 (revised from 33)
Acton: 19 (revised from 19)
Stevenson Ranch: 19
Unincorporated Canyon Country: 11
Agua Dulce: 8
Val Verde: 6
Elizabeth Lake: 4
Lake Hughes: 2
Valencia: 2
Unincorporated Bouquet Canyon: 2
Newhall: 1
Unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country: 1
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SCV Cases
Of the 99,775 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:
Santa Clarita: 73,712
Castaic: 9,674
Stevenson Ranch: 6,007
Canyon Country: 3,786
Acton: 2,021
Val Verde: 1,225
Agua Dulce: 97
Valencia: 937
Saugus: 346
Elizabeth Lake: 288
Bouquet Canyon: 207
Lake Hughes: 204
Saugus/Canyon Country: 135
Newhall: 105
Sand Canyon: 63
San Francisquito: 44
Placerita Canyon: 24
*Note: The county is unable to break out separate numbers for Castaic and PDC/NCCF because the county uses geotagging software that cannot be changed at this time, according to officials. Click here for the LASD COVID-19 dashboard.
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California Thursday By the Numbers
While daily press releases are no longer available from CDPH, data will continue to be updated weekly on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.​
As of June 22, California has confirmed a total of 102,287 COVID-19 deaths.
Vaccines Administered updated June 22, at 9:36 a.m., with data from June 21.
Deaths and Tests updated June 22, at 9:36 a.m., with data from June 20.
For more California data, click [here].
