COVID Hospitalizations Dip Below 100 Patients In Orange County

SANTA ANA, CA — The number of COVID-positive patients in Orange County hospitals has fallen under triple digits, and infection rates have continued to trend down, according to data recently released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The number of COVID-19 patients dropped from 100 on Saturday to 95 on Sunday, the latest figures were available. The number of intensive care unit patients remained at 20, the same as Saturday.

The last time the number of COVID-infected patients was below 100 was July 9, before the Delta-variant surge last summer.

The county logged four more fatalities, bringing the overall death toll to 6,864, but the newly reported deaths were scattered throughout the past several months with one each occurring in July and November and two happening in September.

The death toll for March stands at 28,297 for February, 535 for January, 111 for December, 116 for November, 137 for October, 204 for September, 187 for August and 32 for July.

The county also reported 148 new infections, but that was for Friday as the agency has a new policy of reporting out weekend and Monday infections on Tuesdays. The cumulative case count stands at 546,444.

Of those hospitalized, 84% are unvaccinated and 86% percent of those in intensive care were not inoculated, according to the agency.

The county's case rate per 100,000 people dropped from 3.4 as of Friday to 3.2 as of Monday. The testing positivity rate inched down from 1.7% to 1.6% and from 2% to 1.8% in the health equity quartile, which measures underserved communities hardest hit by the pandemic, the OCHCA said.

City News Service