Orange County COVID-19 hospitalizations ratchet ever upward as statewide infections surpass 2 million

As the ongoing tide of coronavirus cases pushes healthcare workers to their breaking point — and with the number of COVID-19 patients and those on ventilators at an all-time pandemic high — Orange County hospitalizations continued to ratchet upward Thursday.

Orange County Health Care Agency officials reported Thursday 3,490 more individuals had been infected with the virus, while 1,893 were being treated for COVID-19 in area hospitals. Of those, 405 were in being seen in intensive-care units.

The news comes as the California Department of Public Health announced Thursday the number of infections statewide had surpassed 2 million people, with 2,003,146 confirmed cases to date.

“While this means we are leveraging our testing capacity, it is a reminder that this virus continues to spread through our communities,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency said in a statement. “Hospitals are full, ICU beds are few, people are dying. The simplest thing we can do, but also the most significant, is to stay home.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday a regional stay-at-home order for 11 Southern California counties, implemented Dec. 7 and expected to last for a three-week period, would likely be extended beyond Dec. 28 but did not indicate for how much longer.

Thursday’s new Orange County cases pushes the county’s total number of infections so far to 138,310 individuals. A single death recorded brings Orange County fatalities to 1,782.

County residents between age 25 and 55 accounted for nearly 52% of all the new cases, or 1,796 infections, with a reported 678 people between the ages of 25 and 34 recorded Thursday as infected.

Orange County’s seven-day average of new cases stands at 51.8 per 100,000 residents, while the average health equity quartile positivity rate rose this week to 22.7%.

With Christmas just one day away, coronavirus testing super sites were packed with vehicles. Some 20,130 tests were issued countywide Thursday, bringing the cumulative number of tests issued to 1,926,712 and accounting for a seven-day average testing positivity rate of 15.2%.

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

• Santa Ana: 26,935 cases; 360 deaths
• Anaheim: 23,292 cases; 381 deaths
• Huntington Beach: 5,517 cases; 96 deaths
• Costa Mesa: 4,492 cases; 51 deaths
• Irvine: 5,039 cases; 20 deaths
• Newport Beach: 2,068 cases; 28 deaths
• Fountain Valley: 1,730 cases; 25 deaths
• Laguna Beach: 460 cases; fewer than five deaths

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

• 0 to 17: 12,957 cases; one death
• 18 to 24: 19,660 cases; five deaths
• 25 to 34: 28,763 cases; 26 deaths
• 35 to 44: 21,842 cases; 42 deaths
• 45 to 54: 22,361 cases; 131 deaths
• 55 to 64: 16,940 cases; 242 deaths
• 65 to 74: 8,449 cases; 351 deaths
• 75 to 84: 4,265 cases; 393 deaths
• 85 and older: 3,002 cases; 591 deaths
  

A shopper walks past a mural at Pacific City in Huntington Beach on Monday, Dec. 21.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc. For information on getting tested, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing.

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