Orange County COVID-19 cases continue to decline

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When Orange County officials opened a new COVID-19 vaccine distribution point at the University of Santa Ana, they received good news about the decline in cases and the ongoing trend of hospitalization.

On Wednesday, the county reported only 166 new cases of COVID-19, increasing the cumulative total to 243,329, but recorded an additional 27 deaths and increased the death toll to 3,644.

“I don’t know because it feels abnormal,” said Frank Kim, CEO of Orange County, who reported a small number of cases on Wednesday.

Kim said Wednesday was the day authorities expected the incident to occur at the Super Bowl rally, but they seem to have evaded the bullet.

Death reports are staggered because they come from a variety of sources and are not always immediately logged.

Most of the deaths occurred in January, and the number of deaths in the worst month of the pandemic increased to 1,060. One death was in December, with the death toll increasing to 860 that month and the rest this month, with 21 deaths now.

Of the deaths recorded on Wednesday, two were resident of a skilled long-term care facility, increasing to a total of 904 since the pandemic began, and one was a resident of a life support facility, for a total of 406. Raised to a person.

Meanwhile, hospitalizations continued to decline, with 719 patients being treated for the virus at regional health centers, down from 748 on Tuesday, and the number of intensive care units remained at 235.

According to the Orange County Healthcare Agency, the county has 15.4% of ICU beds and 57% of ventilators.

The worst day of the pandemic in Orange County was January 5, when 63 people died. The second highest was on January 3, killing 61 people.

Adjusted daily case rates per 100,000 people in the county dropped from 29.7 last week to 20.7 on Tuesday, with a 7-day average 7-day delay Test positive rate dropped from 9.4% to 7.8% And meet the standards for the red layer of the state’s four-layer business resumption plan.

The county’s health quartile positive rate, which measures cases in poorer areas due to the county’s influence, dropped from 12.4% last week to 10.7%.

The state color-coded layer framework numbers will be updated on Tuesday.

To move from the purple layer to the less restrictive red layer, the county has 4-7 new daily cases per 100,000 and 5% -8% with a health inequal quartile of 5.3% -8%. It needs to be improved to a positive rate. The county also needs to maintain the indicator for two consecutive weeks.

If this trend continues, the “best scenario” will take another three to four weeks for the county to go into the red, said Andrew Do, chairman of the Orange County Supervisory Board.

By that time in mid-March to late March, Do said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (which requires only one shot instead of the two-shot regimen of the vaccine currently in use) may be available. It was.

“At that point, we were really able to move forward towards the resumption of the economy,” he said.

“One foot is in the red layer and the other foot is still firmly planted in purple,” Kim said in the county.

The county opened a new vaccine distribution site at the University of Santa Ana on Wednesday. The site aims to dispense approximately 1,000 vaccines daily and ultimately up to 1,500 vaccines.

According to Kim, the county had planned 1,000 reservations on Wednesday through the county’s website and app.

When he visited the campus on Wednesday, Kim said, “I was running very smoothly.” “Generally, it took 15 minutes to get to the vaccine station.”

According to Kim, the site has a “drive-through” for people with disabilities.

The university’s new vaccination site focuses primarily on residents of “the zip code most hit by COVID-19, primarily the cities of Santa Anna, Garden Grove and Anaheim.”

On Wednesday, county officials also announced that they would open another vaccine distribution point at the Anaheim Convention Center to provide booster shots for people vaccinated with Modana. A new site will open on February 24th to allow people vaccinated with Moderna to get booster shots.

From February 24th, only the Pfizer vaccine will be given at Disneyland for the first booster shot, and the Moderna Shot, including boosters, will be given at the convention center.

The county receives 35,000 to 40,000 vaccines a week, but if it receives more, it can open a new place for vaccination, Kim said.

“If you take 100,000 doses a week, you’ll have three more Super PODSs open within 30 days,” he said.

According to Kim, there are concerns that Blue Shield will not know what changes will be made to the allocation when it takes over the distribution of vaccines to county governments and healthcare providers.

“If Blue Shield takes over, what is their formula for allocating vaccines,” Kim said. “I would like to know.”

Orange County meets the state’s criteria for reopening schools from kindergarten to sixth grade, but most schools in the county already have some combination of virtual and direct learning open.

The Anaheim Elementary School District will resume face-to-face learning on March 15. The Buena Park School District is stepping up face-to-face instruction starting on Monday.

The number of inmates infected in county prisons was reduced to 13, one was hospitalized, and authorities were waiting for the results of 282 tests.

At a court hearing on Tuesday, county lawyers said 186 prisoners aged 65 and over or in basic health and particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 were vaccinated. Another 110 turned down the shot.

Orange County COVID-19 cases continue to decline Last changed: February 18, 2021 Along Contribution Editor

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