Orange County reports 734 new COVID-19 cases

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Orange County reported 734 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, with no additional deaths as hospitalizations continued to increase.

The cumulative number of cases in the county is 78,553 and the death toll is 1,577.

According to the Orange County Healthcare Agency, the number of residents in the county hospitalized for the virus increased from 597 to 605 on Sunday, and the number of patients in the intensive care unit decreased slightly from 148 to 146.

The average 3-day change in inpatients ranged from 13.6% to 17%. The last hospitalization rate was so high at the end of July, and the last ICU rate was so high around August 10.

Twenty-six percent of intensive care unit beds and 62% of ventilators are available in the county.

The rising numbers on holiday weekends seem to support officials’ fears of a Thanksgiving-fueled surge. Frank Kim, CEO of Orange County, said last week that he was “extremely concerned” about the increase in cases and hospitalizations.

“And the various hospitals (executives) I’m talking about seem to be more confident in their treatment than in the early stages of the illness, but I’m not downplaying it,” Kim said. It was. “Hospitalization and rising ICU rates are a serious concern for our community.”

Authorities recommend waiting at least two days after a trip, attending an event, or rally to be tested, as the infection may not be detected immediately.

Andrew Neumer, an associate professor of population health and disease prevention at the University of California, Irvine, said recent elections were part of the cause of the recent surge and warned of a harsh winter.

“I’m very worried about the trends seen after Thanksgiving,” Neumer told City News Service last week. “People do not admit that we were recording deaths from the summer waves to October.”

Noymer predicted more cases than the July peak. “But this will be like another July, not just gone,” he said. “I think it will get worse.

At the end of this week, he predicted, “We predicted that we would return to July (levels). And will it peak as in July or will it continue to worsen? It will continue to worsen. There is a reason to believe that it is possible. “

According to Neumer, this is mainly because the cold is driving people to work more indoors and some students are still attending classes in the classroom.

The worst day of COVID-19 hospitalization in Orange County was July 14, with 722 patients.

In the state’s step-by-step surveillance system, updated on Tuesday, the county’s adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 inhabitants jumped from 10.8 to 17.2 last week, with positive rates rising from 4.6% to 6.8%. As of Monday, the adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 people was 18.7 and the positive rate was 7.6%.

The positive rate is still poorly matched to the red layer of the state’s four-layer reopening roadmap, but the daily case rate per 100,000 is 8% of the most restrictive purple layer. Far beyond the value.

Kim said an optimistic vaccine is under development and will arrive by the end of the year. According to Kim, the hospital system will get the vaccine directly and individual hospitals will be vaccinated by the county.

Front-line healthcare professionals will be vaccinated first, along with people with underlying health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to illness.

Increasing testing and awareness of infectious diseases, Kim said, is expected to facilitate quarantine and quarantine and other social distance practices that help control the spread of the virus.

According to Kim, the county test per 100,000 people jumped from 354.1 to 419.1 last week, surpassing the county’s goal for testing at this point.

He said the county is focusing on encouraging testing. The number of tests conducted in the county was 1,452,198, including 7,015 reported on Monday. There were 59,783 documented collections.

Orange County reports 734 new COVID-19 cases Last changed: November 30, 2020 Along Contribution Editor

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