Orange County health officials Friday reported three more COVID-19 fatalities and 405 additional coronavirus infections, inching the death toll toward the 500 mark and bringing the cumulative caseload to 28,309, but the region’s hospitalization average dropped.
The three latest deaths involved skilled nursing facility residents. Of the 469 COVID-19 deaths in the county, 226 were skilled nursing facility residents and 16 were assisted living facility residents.
The county has recorded 48 COVID-19 fatalities since Sunday. The previous week, the county reported 58 coronavirus deaths.
Orange County is on the state’s watch list for counties experiencing high rates of new cases and hospitalizations. It has shown some improvement, with some continuing concerns.
The county’s case rate per 100,000 residents increased from 247.8 to 253.5, higher than the California Department of Public Health threshold of 25 per 100,000 residents.
The rate of residents testing positive for COVID-19 dipped from 14% to 13.9%, but is still much higher than the state’s desired rate of 8%.
The change in three-day average of hospitalized patients dropped from 6.2% to 2.6%, lower than the state’s threshold of 10%.
The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients dropped from 711 on Thursday to 682, and the number of patients in intensive care decreased from 245 to 235, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
Also, the county has 37.9% of its intensive care unit beds available, more than the state’s threshold of at least 20% to handle a surge. The county also has 64% of its ventilators available, more than double the 25% minimum expected by the state.
The county has administered 341,097 coronavirus tests and documented 12,884 recoveries, the HCA reported.
In the county’s jails, 434 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, with 392 having recovered and 42 in medical isolation being treated for symptoms. The county is awaiting the results of 46 tests.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered all school campuses to remain closed when the academic year begins in counties on the state’s monitoring list due to spiking coronavirus cases — including Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside counties.
The order means districts across Southern California will begin the new school year with distance-learning programs, as opposed to in-person classes. The state’s two largest districts, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified, had already announced plans to begin the new academic year with online-only courses.
On Monday, the Orange County Board of Education took a different view, voting 4-1 to adopt a “white paper” recommending a return to school for students without masks or social distancing enforced.
On Thursday, HCA Director Dr. Clayton Chau, the county’s interim chief health officer, sought to distance himself from that decision, reiterating, as he did earlier this week, that he was invited to take part in a panel discussion with other experts, but that he had nothing to do with writing the white paper.
On Wednesday, a drive-thru testing site for residents opened at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is meant to ease some of the county’s testing needs. The county hopes to reach 1,200 daily tests within two weeks.
Additionally, Rite Aid expanded its COVID-19 testing capacity by opening nearly 100 sites across California Thursday, including Orange County locations in Anaheim, La Habra, Costa Mesa and Mission Viejo.