Five more coronavirus-related deaths and 153 new confirmed cases have been reported in Orange County, raising the death toll to 71 and the cumulative case total to 3,240.
The Orange County Health Care Agency has reported 19 fatalities since Monday.
The number of patients hospitalized with the virus increased from 186 on Thursday to 188, with the number in intensive care increasing from 69 to 74, according to the HCA.
The total number of people in the county tested for the virus stands at 46,372, with 812 tests reported Friday.
Of the county’s total cases, 2% involve people under 18 years old; 10% are between 18-24; 18% are between 25-34; 15% are between 35-44; 18% are between 45-54; 16% are between 55-64; 10% are between 65-74; 6% are between 75-84; and 4% are 85 and older.
Of the patients who died, 3% were 25 to 34 years old, 6% were 35 to 44, 8% were 45-54, 14% were 55-64, 17% were 65-74, 28% were 75-84, and 24% were 85 or older.
Men make up 54% of the county’s cases and 58% of its fatalities.
Whites account for 32% of the fatalities and Latinos for 35%, followed by Asians (21%). According to the Health Care Agency, 4% were black, 1% were native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 1% are mixed race, and 3% fall into the category of “other.”
In the county’s skilled nursing facilities, a total of 351 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, with 22 dying of complications from the virus, according to the county, which also reported that 177 staff workers at the facilities have tested positive and one has died.
Fifteen of the county’s skilled nursing facilities have reported two or more coronavirus cases within two weeks.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported 259 COVID-19 cases in its jails, with 159 test results pending. There are 18 inmates who are currently sick, and the number who have recovered stands at 54.
Beaches in Orange County were open Friday, with restrictions, and so-called “low-risk” businesses such as clothing and book stores, music shops, toy stores, sporting goods stores and florists — all closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic — reopened with curbside service only.
The move to allow some businesses to reopen comes as the state relaxes its health order and as Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will consider petitions from individual counties that want to go further and allow other businesses to open.
However, Newsom said, any decision to reopen other businesses will be based on strict guidelines, including reporting no more than one case per 10,000 residents in the last 14 days; reporting no deaths in the past 14 days; providing daily testing of 1.5 tests per 1,000 residents; having 15 contact-tracers available for every 100,000 residents; and ensuring hospitals have the capacity to handle a 35% surge in cases.
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, who is president of the California State Association of Counties, had a scheduled call with state health department officials Thursday evening and proposed a different standard for larger counties such as Los Angeles and Orange.
The density and higher population of the county will make it virtually impossible to get through two weeks without a COVID-19 related death for the foreseeable future, Bartlett said.
“We need to look at the right criteria and metrics relative to the population of the county — something that is more fair and balanced,” Bartlett told City News Service.
New beach hours of 6 a.m.-10 p.m. are in effect in Newport Beach and mirror the hours for beaches in Huntington Beach and San Clemente, Newport Beach public information manager John Pope told City News Service.
Pope said enforcement of new “keep moving” rules was mostly about seeking voluntary compliance. Video shots of the beaches showed many beachgoers sunbathing, which is not allowed.
“The things we’re looking for are the obvious indicators like someone is planning to camp out for a long stretch,” Pope said.
“Lifeguards are looking for canopies, tents, umbrellas. We see them out there and when we do see them, our lifeguards will try to educate those folks and say, `Hey, we can’t have that under the current rules.’
“Some of them have been cooperative and some less cooperative, but right now we’re trying to educate versus cite. And, if we do need to, the police can be called in and we can have the ability to issue citations. But we’re not trying to do that now. We’re trying to let people know the rules.”
The city is also using electronic message boards to reinforce the new rules, Pope said.
The active uses approved for beaches include walking, running, hiking, bicycling, swimming, surfing, bodysurfing, boogie boarding, kite surfing, paddle boarding, skim boarding and kayaking.
The city’s boardwalk on the peninsula, the popular Wedge surfing spot and the parking lots will remain closed, Pope said.
Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Dana Point reopened their beaches for active use on Tuesday.
County officials were getting dozens of calls from residents angered that Nomads Canteen restaurant in San Clemente has defied orders prohibiting in-store dining, according to Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett.
“They keep opening up and we’re getting literally a hundred calls from people asking why are they open?” Bartlett said.
Inspectors from the county’s Health Care Agency and the state’s Alcohol, Beverage Control agency have visited the owner to explain that dine-in business is not allowed.
“Some residents feel they’re putting the workers in harm’s way there,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett said she was “very sympathetic” to business owners anxious about staying closed for much longer.
“I am hoping we can move to restaurant dining in a very short while,” Bartlett said. “We are working with the governor’s office and working on some protocols and hopefully we’ll move them into phase two in very short order.
“I feel for all these business owners, including restaurants, who are not able to open right now. I’m doing everything I can, working through the proper channels, to get businesses open as soon as possible.”
Bartlett said she was concerned that the restaurants who buck the state orders will lose their licenses and not be able to reopen fully later.
Most businesses are abiding by the state’s orders, she said.
Representatives from the nail salon industry held a news conference in Garden Grove on Friday to criticize Newsom’s remarks at his daily briefing on Thursday that COVID-19’s community spread origin was in a nail salon.
Mike Vo, board chairman of the Pro Nails Association of Irvine, said he found the comment “surprising and disappointing.”
“As a former restaurateur himself, the governor knows the daily struggles of small business owners such as the 11,000 nail salons in California where approximately 80% of salons are owned and operated by Vietnamese Americans,” Vo said.
“We also know of his support of immigrants and refugees — and their countless contributions in making our Golden State even more golden. As Vietnamese Americans, our hearts go out to the lives lost, to all those impacted family members and to their loved ones along with so many others devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. It also pains us as law-abiding Americans living and working in California that the governor’s remarks may contribute to further anxiety and even heightened fear in today’s unfortunate toxic environment.”
Newsom on Friday said nail salons are “one of the most entrepreneurial industries in our country,” and added, “I have deep reverence for those entrepreneurs.”
Newsom added it was a “factual statement” about the origin of community spread, but, “It was not a statement to be extrapolated as an indictment of an industry that I deeply respect.”