Orange County COVID-19 hospitalizations and infection rates generally held steady in data released Friday by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
Hospitalizations of COVID-positive patients increased from 127 Wednesday to 129 Thursday, while the number of those patients in intensive care remained at 24.
The last time hospitalizations were this low was in mid-July before the Delta variant-fueled summer surge. Of those hospitalized, 84% are unvaccinated and 86% percent in intensive care are not inoculated.
The county reported 171 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, upping the cumulative total to 546,296. The county also logged three new deaths tied to the virus, increasing the cumulative death toll to 6,860.
One of the fatalities was this month, increasing the March death toll to 28. Two occurred in February, increasing February’s death toll to 297.
January’s death toll stands at 535, December’s at 111, November’s at 115, October’s at 137, September’s at 202 and August’s at 187.
The case rate per 100,000 people was at 3.4. The testing positivity rate is at 1.7% and 2% in the health equity quartile, which measures underserved communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
The case rate per 100,000 people who are fully vaccinated with a booster improved from 3.5 on March 12 to 3.2 on March 19, according to data released Thursday.
For residents who were fully vaccinated with no booster the case rate improved from 3.2 to 2.4. For those not fully vaccinated the rate improved from 6 to 4.1.
The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County rose from 2,443,437 last week to 2,446,410, according to data released Thursday. That number includes an increase from 2,287,201 to 2,290,047 of residents who have received the two-dose regimen of vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna.
The number of residents receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine increased from 156,236 to 156,363. Booster shots increased from 1,222,416 to 1,228,846.
In the most recently eligible age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of children vaccinated increased from 83,724 to 85,376, versus 183,204 who have not been vaccinated. It’s the least vaccinated age group in Orange County.
The age group that has received the most booster shots is 55 to 64.