The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) confirmed the second case of the UK COVID-19 variant on Saturday, officials said.
The specimen, submitted by a clinical facility, was sequenced as part of routine surveillance by the Los Angeles County Public Health Laboratory, according to LADPH officials. Public Health announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 on January 16.
Additionally, four new cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) are also reported in the county Saturday. This brings the total cases of MIS-C in L.A. County to 66 children, including one child death, officials said.
“Although some restrictions were just lifted in our County, we are still in a very dangerous period in terms of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. We all want our businesses currently operating to remain open and more to reopen safely in the future. Our case rates must continue to come down,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health. “One way to do that is for everyone to follow all of the public health recommendations and directives all of the time. Because some sectors have re-opened, it doesn’t mean that the risk for community transmission has gone away; it hasn’t, and each of us needs to make very careful choices about what we do and how we do it. This virus is strong, and we are now concerned about variants and what these will mean in our region.”
An additional 6,918 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Saturday, along with 316 deaths, according to the LADPH.
The new cases reported today bring the county’s cumulative total to 1,111,089 positive cases of COVID-19 and 16,647 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the department.
As of Saturday, there were 5,669 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 26 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Testing results are available for over 5,483,000 people, with 19 percent of people testing positive. The daily positivity rate is 9.9 percent, down 15 percent compared to last Saturday, public health officials said.
Currently, more than 790,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the County. People eligible for vaccine include frontline healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and County residents age 65 and older. Together, these groups total more than 2 million people eligible for the vaccine, who each need two doses.
See Related: How To Register For A COVID-19 Vaccine In Los Angeles County
On Friday, Dr. Paul Simon, science officer for the LADPH, told reporters that the state is expected to help standardize the vaccine distribution process across California, which would help expand the number of groups eligible for the vaccine as early as February. The County receives on average, 150,000 vaccine doses per week.
According to California health officials, the Southern California Region has 0.0% staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of Saturday.
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.
On Saturday, 140 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 23,089 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:
- 17,340 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+115)
- 40 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
- 699 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+5)
- 3,399 in Castaic* (+7)
- 61 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
- 13 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
- 13 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
- 119 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus (+2)
- 29 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
- 946 in Stevenson Ranch (+10)
- 269 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde
- 161 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia (+1)
In nearby Acton, there have been 392 (+2) cumulative cases, as well as 214 cases in Agua Dulce (+1).
*As of Thursday, Jan. 28, 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 77 COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Saturday, Jan. 30, while 1,006 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March 2020, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.
Two additional deaths were reported Saturday, with a total of 118 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 194 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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