Orange County reports 565 cases of new COVID-19, but hospitalization is declining

Santa Ana, California – Orange County reported 565 new cases of COVID-19 and an additional 6 deaths on Sunday, bringing the county total to 39,076 cases and 720 deaths.

The newly confirmed number of cases has shown to have increased significantly over the past two days, and authorities may have caught up with the reporting backlog caused by a malfunction in the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system.

Only 43 cases were reported on Friday and 322 on Saturday.

However, hospitalization rates continue to decline and these numbers are not affected by reporting issues. As of Sunday, 487 people were hospitalized with the virus and 163 were receiving intensive care, according to the Orange County Healthcare Agency. These numbers are down from 491 and 167 on Saturday and 511 and 177 on Friday.

Frank County CEO of Orange County last week said authorities were cautiously optimistic about the overall trend.

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“By looking at the number of hospitalizations, the ICU rate peaked around July and is steadily declining,” said Kim. “It’s a promising sign. There were spikes in hospitalization and ICU rates in mid-July, and both have been declining since then. I think this is a positive sign.”

Of the six deaths on Sunday, three were residents of skilled nursing homes and three were non-nursing homes. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 284 resident skilled care homes have died of COVID-19 in Orange County, and 38 resident living homes have been infected with the virus.

The percentage of people in the county who were positive for COVID-19 fell below the desired state threshold of 7.7%, down from 8% to 7.7%. The case rate per 100,000 population decreased from 95.6 to 90. This is well above the California Department of Health’s threshold of 25 per 100,000 people.

The 3-day average change in hospitalized patients was -0.7% to -6.5%, well below the state threshold of 10% increase.

Available ICU beds surged from 32% to 43% and available ventilator rates rose from 63% to 66%. The state threshold is 20% of ICU beds available to handle surges and 25% of ventilators at hand.

The county reported that 474,144 COVID-19 tests were conducted, including 14,665 reported on Sunday. There were 29,931 documented recoveries.

Kim said that the age group with the highest prevalence was young adults, who were least vulnerable to death because they had less underlying health. The number of deaths among residents of nursing homes is steadily declining, and the number of deaths “I hope this trend has reversed.”

Dr. Kreighton Chau, director of the Healthcare Agency and interim chief health officer of the county, said state authorities have yet to aggregate approximately 300,000 tests in the state system. He said he was “confident” that the nation could solve the problem.

According to Kim, demand for the COVID-19 test dropped significantly at the Anaheim Convention Center county test site.

“We have so many test capabilities that it’s free, but still fewer people are using it than a few weeks ago,” he said.

According to Kim, county officials are currently discussing whether to open a second site at the Costa Mesa trade fair because it can handle capacity in Anaheim.

He said the wider use of face covers, as well as the closure of state bars and in-restaurant meals, seemed to play an important role in controlling the spread of the virus. However, with 38,754 cases recorded, Orange County remains on the state’s watch list for counties with high rates of new cases and hospitalizations.

County officials are counting coronavirus cases from different age groups as local school officials prepare to begin classes.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 370 children up to the age of 3 infected. 471 people in a group of 4-9 years old. 373 from 10 to 12 years; 348 between 13 and 14 years. 1,286 in the 15-18 year old group.

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Many elementary schools are preparing exemption applications from counties and states. This allows for up to 6th grade face-to-face classroom lessons. The state requires that county schools on the watch list must be distance-learned until they are removed from the watch list.

Mr Chau told reporters Friday afternoon that about 80 Orange County schools, most of them interested in exempting charter and private schools.

He said there was a lively debate between educators and state and county officials about holding classes outdoors.