O.C. coronavirus hospitalizations continue steady climb upward
Orange County’s coronavirus hospitalizations reached another high Monday with 659 inpatients confirmed to have COVID-19.
Sixteen of the last 18 days have marked records as hospitalizations have climbed rapidly since the county further eased lockdown restrictions last month, according to data released Tuesday by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
On Sunday 634 patients were reported, Saturday’s total reached 624 and Friday’s 594. From June 18, when 335 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, through Monday, the most recent day for which data are available, the hospitalized population with COVID-19 has increased by 97%.
The number of patients with the disease in intensive care has increased by 59% in that same time frame, with 224 in the ICU on Monday.
The vast majority of hospitalized patients are local residents, but six of Monday’s patients were from Imperial County, according to the O.C. agency’s Emergency Medical Services division.
The hard-hit rural county, which only has two hospitals but has the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the state, has been sending patients to other parts of Southern California to take pressure off its taxed medical facilities. Orange County has not been asked to relieve any other jurisdictions, according to an agency spokesman.
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The change in Orange County’s three-day average of total hospitalized patients was 10.6% as of Tuesday, easing back toward the 10% state threshold that would indicate short-term stability.
The three-day hospitalization rate is one of the key metrics the California Department of Public Health is tracking as it determines which counties might have to go back into some level of lockdown — as already seen on July 1, when Gov. Gavin Newsom called for the renewed closure of indoor restaurant dining rooms and all bars for at least three weeks in Orange County, among several other counties.
Other state metrics, testing positivity and ICU and ventilator capacity, were mixed. Testing positivity — the percentage of tests that return positive — was at a record-high 14.2% as of Tuesday, well above the state’s 8% threshold that Orange County hasn’t met since June 25. But 40% of ICU beds and 67% of ventilators were still available in the area Tuesday, well within the state-defined minimums of 20% ICU capacity and 25% ventilator availability.
Also on Tuesday, the county reported 1,010 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, its second straight day of 1,000-plus new cases. Agency spokeswoman Jessica Good confirmed that both of these daily updates showed community transmission of COVID-19 and did not represent a backlog in reporting by the state, which has explained sharp peaks in the recent past.
Orange County has now recorded 18,892 cumulative positive tests for COVID-19. Of those, 8,867 cases are estimated to have recovered.
An additional 8,037 tests were reported Tuesday, bringing that total to 278,696.
The county also reported three new COVID-19 related deaths Tuesday, bringing total fatalities to 369. Of those, 191 have been nursing home patients.
Here are the latest cumulative case counts and deaths for select cities:
- Santa Ana: 3,711 cases; 98 deaths
- Anaheim: 3,425 cases; 91 deaths
- Huntington Beach: 921 cases; 40 deaths
- Irvine: 593 cases; five deaths
- Costa Mesa: 554 cases; three deaths
- Newport Beach: 451 cases; two deaths
- Fountain Valley: 167 cases; six deaths
- Laguna Beach: 78 cases; fewer than five deaths
Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc.
For information on getting tested, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing.
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