SANTA ANA (CNS) - The number of coronavirus cases in Orange County stands at 2,393 today, with 45 deaths.
Local health officials reported one additional death and 145 new COVID-19 cases in Orange County on Thursday, as Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a temporary “hard close” of the county's beaches, where crowds gathered during last weekend's heat wave amid social-distancing mandates.
The Orange County Health Care Agency reported that the number of hospitalized patients jumped from 175 on Wednesday to 190 Thursday, while the number of intensive care patients declined from 70 to 63.
The number of people in the county tested for the virus increased by 1,594 to 31,534.
Of the county's total cases, 2%, or 45, involve people under 18 years old; 9%, or 204, are between 18-24; 17%, or 403, are between 25-34; 15%, or 362, are between 35-44; 19%, or 454, are between 45-54; 17%, or 415, are between 55-64; 11%, or 253, are between 65-74; 7%, or 157, are between 75-84; and 4%, or 100, are 85 and older.
Men make up 53% of the county's cases and 62% of its fatalities.
Of the patients who died, 4% were 25 to 34 years old, 7% were 35 to 44, 11%, were 45-54, 16% were 55-64, 11% were 65-74, 33% were 75-84, and 18% were 85 or older.
Whites account for 31% of the fatalities, followed by Latinos (29%), and Asians (27%). According to the HCA, 7% were black, 2% were native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2% were unknown, and 2% fall into the category of “other.”
Santa Ana has the most cases with 366, followed by Anaheim at 346, Huntington Beach at 223, and Irvine at 130. They are the four biggest cities in the county.
Despite restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus, crowds flocked to Orange County beaches over the weekend as temperatures rose to summer-like levels, prompting Newsom's “hard closure” order Thursday. The Huntington Beach and Dana point city councils later voted to take legal action to resist the order.
There was some speculation Newsom would order a statewide closure of beaches, but he focused just on Orange County, saying he wanted to “reward” the officials elsewhere in the state who have worked to keep large crowds away from the shoreline.
Unlike in neighboring Los Angeles County, the public was not strictly prohibited from spending time on the sand in Orange County last weekend, though county beach parking lots have been closed.
Laguna Hills officials, meanwhile, announced they have dismissed their lawsuit seeking to block the county from using a state and federal program to house transients infected with COVID-19 at a hotel in the city.
The dismissal of the lawsuit came on the day officials were scheduled to argue for a preliminary injunction. Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Delaney on April 20 rejected the city's temporary restraining order request to block the use of the 76-bed Laguna Hills Inn at 23061 Avenida de la Carlota as part of Project Roomkey.
City officials said they decided to drop the lawsuit after receiving correspondence from Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett and county CEO Frank Kim that offered “specific assurances” about the project.
Officials said they were assured it would only be temporary and will close within 60 days of Gov. Gavin Newsom's “safer at home” order ending.
Officials were also assured about “security protocols and medical staffing.”
Kim said only one transient was staying at the hotel as of Thursday.
There are 139 transients housed in hotels as part of Project Roomkey in Orange County, officials said. Of those, 122 are considered at a high risk of contracting a severe case of COVID-19 due to age or underlying health issues, and 17 are infected.
Officials were using the hotels to safely quarantine transients infected with the virus because they cannot properly socially distance in the county's shelters or while living on the streets.
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