COVID-19 conditions ‘dramatically improved’ in Orange County as number of patients in ICU dip

As California takes strides forward in figuring out how to live with COVID-19, Orange County is also making steady headway in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, especially with pediatric patients in intensive care units.

Data released Tuesday by the Orange County Health Care Agency showed 257 new cases and eight fatalities. The positivity rate decreased from 3.8% to 3.7%. Hospitalizations increased slightly from 230 to 233 while patients in intensive care units dipped from 40 to 35.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant, children were affected more than in previous surges, said agency director Dr. Clayton Chau, but “we no longer as of this morning have any children in the ICU beds.”

While the COVID-19 situation in Orange County has “dramatically improved,” Chau told reporters during Tuesday’s news conference, it is “strongly recommended” the public continue to assess their own risks and help others stay safe by following safety precautions even as the state’s mask mandate sunsets.

“From what we know how this coronavirus behaved to now, I think for those of us who are alive now, we’re going to have to deal with this virus all lifetime,” he said. “There is no way out of this virus at this time based on the science that we know to date.”

While more than half of the county’s population is fully vaccinated, Chau said those between the ages of 5 and 11 need to catch up. About 36% of them have received one dose and roughly 29% are fully vaccinated, he said.

More than 70% of the county’s population who fall between the ages of 12 and 17 have received one dose, and more than half of them are fully vaccinated, Chau said.

He urged hesitant parents to consult with their children’s pediatricians and learn more about the vaccine on the county, state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s websites.

“Clearly science and medicine has already declared that COVID is a childhood disease,” he said.

As the county continues tallying the number of fatalities fueled by the Omicron surge, about 631 deaths have been recorded overall since winter, according to Chau. The county recorded 487 fatalities in January and 144 as of Tuesday for the month of February.

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