Hospitalizations and cases trending downward in Orange County ahead of weekend

While case rates and hospitalizations have plateaued in Orange County, the Orange County Health Care Agency advised residents to remain vigilant and celebrate safely this holiday weekend.

Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the deputy county health officer, said in a press briefing Wednesday that the average daily case rate is down to 6.9 cases for every 100,000 residents from the 7.3 reported last Friday. In addition, hospitalizations have also slightly fallen to 179 from 194, but the positivity rate has held steady at around 2.7%.

Roughly 71% of all eligible Orange County residents have received at least one dose and 64% are fully vaccinated as of numbers reported on Monday, according to Chinsio-Kwong.

“Over the last 20 months, we’ve come a long way and we’ve been blessed with a period of innovation and scientific breakthrough and we have also been blessed with a lot of collaborative efforts from businesses, community partners, healthcare and essential workers to really keep our community safe,” said Chinsio-Kwong.

Chinsio-Kwong said it was only last year that the pandemic shut down what was everyday life for many, but that there are now vaccines and therapeutics on their way for treatment of the deadly disease.

Residents are still encouraged to receive their vaccines or to complete vaccination and boosters against COVID-19 in addition to receiving their flu vaccinations as soon as possible. Those who are unvaccinated are encouraged to continue wearing masks.

About 299,609 are estimated to have recovered.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County, as of Wednesday afternoon:

• Santa Ana: 50,028 cases; 935 deaths
• Anaheim: 48,794 cases; 1,001 deaths
• Huntington Beach: 14,629 cases; 249 deaths
• Costa Mesa: 11,176 cases; 158 deaths
• Irvine: 14,605 cases; 114 deaths
• Newport Beach: 5,276 cases; 101 deaths
• Fountain Valley: 4,555 cases; 96 deaths
• Laguna Beach: 1,246 cases; 10 deaths

Here are the case counts by age group, followed by deaths:

• 0 to 17: 36,649 cases; two deaths
• 18 to 24: 41,962 cases; 10 deaths
• 25 to 34: 61,923 cases; 74 deaths
• 35 to 44: 48,344 cases; 153 deaths
• 45 to 54: 48,556 cases; 386 deaths
• 55 to 64: 38,515 cases; 854 deaths
• 65 to 74: 19,346 cases; 1,105 deaths
• 75 to 84: 9,702 cases; 1,359 deaths
• 85 and older: 6,194 cases; 1,732 deaths

Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc. For information on getting vaccinated, visit covidvaccinefacts.com.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.