As health official resigns, O.C. agency reports 93 new coronavirus cases, 8 more deaths

Orange County’s chief health officer, Nichole Quick, resigned Monday, making her the third high-ranking healthcare executive to leave the county agency as the pandemic continues.

Her resignation follows the departure of David Souleles, who was the county’s deputy agency director of public health services, and Richard Sanchez, who was the director of the county’s healthcare agency.

After issuing a controversial order that required people to wear cloth face coverings while in public, Quick received immediate pushback from residents and elected officials on the call for widespread use of face coverings. Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials said in May that Quick had received several threats since issuance of the order and expressed concern for her safety.

The department subsequently provided Quick a security detail after she received what Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel called a death threat at a recent county Board of Supervisors meeting.

On Tuesday, county health officials reported another 93 cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and eight deaths, according to new statistics from the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The total number of cases has reached 7,614, which includes 821 skilled nursing facility residents and 384 Orange County jail inmates. Deaths related to COVID-19 in the county now total 185 with 86 of those deaths being skilled nursing facility residents. The report shows 304 cases currently being treated and 146 patients in intensive care units.

According to current data, 3,372 cases have recovered.

Current numbers indicate that 1,236 more tests were reported, bringing the cumulative total of tests performed in the county to 164,981.

By age range, all patients who have contracted the coronavirus so far have been:

• 85 and up: 350
• 75 to 84: 457
• 65 to 74: 666
• 55 to 64: 1,137
• 45 to 54: 1,343
• 35 to 44: 1,160
• 25 to 34: 1,419
• 18 to 24: 747
• Under 18: 333

Here are the latest case counts for select cities, with numbers per 10,000 residents:

• Santa Ana: 1,512 (44.8 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Anaheim: 1,350 (37.6 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Huntington Beach: 373 (18.3 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Irvine: 225 (8 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Newport Beach: 161 (18.5 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Costa Mesa: 153 (13.2 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Fountain Valley: 72 (12.7 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Laguna Beach: 47 (20.1 cases per 10,000 residents)

Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc.

For information on getting tested at one of the nearly two dozen public clinics around the county, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing-and-screening.

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