Orange County reported 269 new cases of COVID-19 and 98 additional deaths on Saturday, but officials said reports of deaths in the coming days may be larger than normal, as they eliminate the buildup created by technical problems in the database of state reports.
The number of county residents hospitalized with the coronavirus decreased from 339 on Friday to 321, and the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care dropped from 91 the day before to 87, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The municipality has 32.2% of beds in intensive care units and 66% of available ventilators.
Of the deaths reported on Saturday, 16 were qualified nursing residents and eight were residents of living institutions, increasing the cumulative totals in these groups to 991 and 471, respectively.
The county reported 11,188 tests on Saturday, increasing the cumulative total to 3,104,730. There were 236,047 documented recoveries.
Orange County’s effort to move to the less restrictive red level of the state’s COVID-19 program to reopen the economy continues as cases and hospitalizations decline.
As of Thursday, the county registered seven cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which is right at the bottom of the most restrictive purple layer.
The overall positivity rate was 3.5 on Thursday, and the health equity quartile rate – which reflects rates at critical points in disadvantaged neighborhoods – was 4.5, “the lowest number we’ve had since we started measuring equity, “Kim said.
Outbreaks – defined as two or more confirmed cases in the past two weeks – have declined significantly in the county’s nursing homes, with only two qualified health centers and three senior living centers on that metric on Wednesday.
“The trends are good, ” Orange County CEO Frank Kim said on Friday.” Trends indicate that we have a very good chance of reaching the red level next week, but we won’t know until we see the data. “
The county is expected to maintain its case rates and positivity rates until this Sunday and next Sunday to move to the red level. County officials still target March 17 as the date when it would be possible to reopen more companies.
Orange County supervisor Lisa Bartlett is optimistic about moving from red to orange soon, too.
“Our numbers continue to improve – we may actually be in the orange layer in the not-too-distant future,” said Bartlett.
The US Senate narrowly passed a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Saturday. The bill will be sent to the House next week.
In addition, on Wednesday, the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, which is scheduled to close on March 15, had only eight patients. The unit, which reopened on December 15, was being used for the recovery of patients with coronavirus who no longer need to be hospitalized.
The outbreak in county prisons dropped from six infections on Thursday to four on Friday, with three involving freshly convicted inmates. None of the prisoners are hospitalized and the authorities are waiting for the results of 638 tests.
The numbers that govern the state’s layered network for the reopening of the economy are updated every Tuesday, with purple being the most restrictive, red the next, and then orange and yellow the least restrictive. But those reports reflect the numbers until Sunday, and from that day on, Orange County did not meet the criteria for the red level.
The county test positivity rate improved to 3.9% from 5.4% last Tuesday, and the rate of adjusted cases per 100,000 on an average of seven days with a seven-day lag improved from 11.9 to 7.6.
To reach the red level, the county must have a case rate per 100,000 inhabitants of 4 to 7, a positivity rate of 5% to 8% and a quartile health equity rate of 5.3% to 8%.
The red layer allows many more businesses and organizations to reopen. For example, retail stores can allow half capacity instead of 25%, and museums, zoos and aquariums can reopen for indoor activities at 25% capacity, as well as cinemas, gyms and restaurants.
County officials closed the site of the mass distribution of Disneyland vaccine for a few days, starting Thursday, so that the tents can be reconfigured to allow drive-through access for the disabled, Kim said. The site is scheduled to reopen on Monday, Kim said.
The vaccine site at Santa Ana College was reopened on Wednesday, more than a week after it was closed due to a drop in vaccine supplies due to delays in deliveries from the east.
Orange County officials expect to receive the new vaccines from Johnson & Johnson by next week at the latest.