Regional ICU capacity shrinks to 9% as Orange County reports highest single-day coronavirus totals yet

Patients check-in at a Clinic 360 COVID-19 mobile testing site in Fountain Valley on Dec. 8.

By Sara CardineStaff Writer

Dec. 9, 2020 4:18 PM PT

With the potential coronavirus fallout from the Thanksgiving holiday still to be fully realized, Orange County virus trends are on a troubling course as health officials on Wednesday reported a record-high number of new infections and COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Orange County Health Care Agency officials recorded 2,613 new cases — the highest single-day total recorded in the county so far during the pandemic — bringing the cumulative total of coronavirus infections to 93,126 cases. With no new deaths reported, fatalities remain at 1,633.

Area hospitals on Wednesday reported 974 residents were being treated for COVID-19, with 239 in intensive care units.

That burden is impacting the availability of ICU beds, a key metric in determining how long Orange County will have to follow stay-at-home orders issued by the state on Saturday. Only 11.2% of countywide beds were still open as of Wednesday, compared to 13% the day before and 18% Monday.

Health Care Agency Director and Public Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau explained in a meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the county is one of 11 included in a Southern California region whose combined ICU availability must be 15% or higher for lockdown orders to be lifted.

“Once we’re in the lockdown, we stay in the lockdown for three weeks,” he said. “At the end of week three, the state will look at the ICU capacity projected out four weeks. If the region is 15% or above, the entire region would be off the lockdown.”

The California Department of Public Health on Wednesday placed the Southern California region’s ICU capacity at 9%.

The adjusted seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 residents now stands at 30.3 — the highest on record so far — while the county’s seven-day average testing positivity rate has reached 10.6% with 15,592 tests reported by agency officials.