Coronavirus continues to claim nursing home patients in Orange County

Five of the six new coronavirus-related deaths announced in Orange County Friday were among nursing home patients, the county Health Care Agency said, further skewing the harshest impact of COVID-19 on the vulnerable population.

The death toll from the disease caused by the coronavirus is now 45 in skilled nursing facilities and 118 overall.

The healthcare agency also reported 108 new infections Friday and 1,052 additional tests over Thursday. This brings Orange County to 4,941 known cases of COVID-19 and 93,906 total tests given. Daily updates are preliminary and subject to change as the county receives new information.

Reported hospitalizations were at 230 with 95 in intensive care across all 25 hospitals eligible to report coronavirus cases.

The overall positivity rate has hovered steadily around 5% since the county greatly expanded its network of public testing clinics in mid-April, according to health care agency data.

But with 30 deaths reported in the last three days, the COVID-19 toll has spiked by 34% in 72 hours. At skilled nursing facilities, known COVID-19 deaths have increased by 23, doubling over the three days. At least eight Orange County nursing homes, including two in Huntington Beach, have recorded patient COVID-19 deaths throughout the pandemic, according to a state registry.

In line with the typical nursing home population, all of the latest fatalities were among seniors older than 65. By age range, all patients who have died were:

• 85 and up: 31
• 75 to 84: 35
• 65 to 74: 20
• 55 to 64: 15
• 45 to 54: 11
• 35 to 44: 4
• 34 and younger: 2

Here are the latest case counts for select cities, with numbers per 10,000 residents:

• Santa Ana: 885 (26.2 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Anaheim: 770 (21.4 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Huntington Beach: 310 (15.2 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Irvine: 166 (5.9 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Newport Beach: 137 (15.7 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Costa Mesa: 89 (7.7 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Fountain Valley: 52 (9.2 cases per 10,000 residents)
• Laguna Beach: 44 (18.8 cases per 10,000 residents)

Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc.

For information on getting tested at one of the nearly two dozen public clinics around the county, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing-and-screening.

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