Orange County breaks 100,000 COVID-19 cases as demonstrators protest to reopen businesses
Marching down 17th Street, protesters took to Newport Beach on Sunday to call for the reopening of businesses as COVID-19 cases in Orange County and across the state continue to surge upward.
Orange County Board of Supervisor Don Wagner, Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Muldoon and Newport Beach Councilman Noah Blom attended the protest as speakers at Bob Henry Park. Blom said business owners also protested the latest regional stay-at-home order.
“The latest orders from the governor are too restrictive,” Muldoon said in an interview Monday. “Small businesses are more than willing to follow guidelines to remain safely open, but these orders will unfortunately put many people out of business.”
“I personally believe in an educational approach. Shutting down, for example, restaurants, I would argue is taking away a fundamental right to be able to earn a living,” Muldoon said.
With ICU beds dwindling and students suffering in online learning, L.A. groups file litigation seeking in-person teaching; Orange County teachers plead for a campus shutdown.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported just 10.4% of beds are available in intensive care units throughout the county. The county exceeded 100,000 coronavirus cases on Sunday.
The county topped 3,000 new cases for a second straight day as health officials reported 3,250 more cases on Monday. Tuesday saw 2,173 more new cases reported. The total number of cases in Orange County is now 107,937.
There was one reported death Tuesday, bringing the county death toll to 1,695.
The county is currently under a regional stay-at-home order that also affects Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, San Luis Obispo and San Diego counties as intensive care unit capacities dip below 15%.
The order means that hair and nail salons, barbershops and other businesses offering personal care services were forced to close, as well as cardrooms and casinos, museums, zoos and aquariums, movie theaters and wineries. Restaurants also were required to return to takeout or delivery only as the order also prohibits outdoor dining.
Retail businesses were required to reduce their capacity to 20%.
Though state health officials say it is possible for Southern California to exit the order and return to the state’s previous reopening guidelines at the end of the month if ICU capacities return to or above 15%, Orange County officials have pushed back.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel said in a news conference Thursday that residents are growing weary with the “top-down” approach to addressing the pandemic with restrictions that are based on changing criteria.
Five healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center are among the first in the state to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Wagner tweeted on Saturday that “People must be able to provide for themselves and their families. Let’s open but #opensafe.”
“The science tells us who’s at risk. The science tells us how to protect people. The science says we can open safely,” Wagner said at the protest. “Way back in late April, early May, my great colleague on the Board of Supervisors and I, came up with business reopening guidelines. The first thing we say is follow the industry guidelines.”
“Follow the science,” Wagner said.
Blom, who is also a restauranteur, said he felt it was important to come out to Sunday’s rally as a business owner in Newport Beach and as an elected official. Blom said he feels the closures are “inhumane” and steal away people’s livelihoods.
“For a lot of owners, it’s not about us,” Blom said. “We would be fine if we ended up closing or shutting down for a bit. There’s still a cost associated with it — the human cost is a lot more.”
“As an elected official, it’s hard for me to understand how we have a ‘one size fits all’ policy right now. I love skiing in Mammoth, but Mono County is different than Orange County. For us to be grouped into what looks like a map without reason, there’s no explanation,” Blom said. “We started out with a tier system, then a color system and now a mapped district system.”
The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in Orange County, including cases, deaths, closures and restrictions.
Blom said he understands cases are rising but wants to keep an “even temperament” about the situation. He said his feelings are independent of politics and he wants people to make the best judgments for themselves and their health.
Newport Beach police spokeswoman Heather Rangel said Monday the protest went without incident.
Hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 in Orange County are now up to 1,371, and about 296 of them in intensive care units.
An estimated 67,699 patients have recovered.
Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County:
- Santa Ana: 21,222 cases; 340 deaths
- Anaheim: 18,260 cases; 364 deaths
- Huntington Beach: 4,420 cases; 93 deaths
- Costa Mesa: 3,595 cases; 48 deaths
- Irvine: 3,909 cases; 18 deaths
- Newport Beach: 1,767 cases; 27 deaths
- Fountain Valley: 1,328 cases; 23 deaths
- Laguna Beach: 400 cases; fewer than five deaths
Here are the case counts by age group, followed by deaths:
- 0 to 17: 9,506 cases; one death
- 18 to 24: 15,573 cases; four deaths
- 25 to 34: 22,798 cases; 24 deaths
- 35 to 44: 17,106 cases; 42 deaths
- 45 to 54: 17,452 cases; 127 deaths
- 55 to 64: 13,098 cases; 234 deaths
- 65 to 74: 6,580 cases; 330 deaths
- 75 to 84: 3,371 cases; 372 deaths
- 85 and older: 2,392 cases; 561 deaths
Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc. For information on getting tested, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing.
The U.S. reached 300,000 fatalities on the same day healthcare workers began receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot.
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