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SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County's COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to rise while 16 more fatalities have been logged since Friday, according to recently released data.
The county's COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from 190 on Friday to 207 Monday with the number of intensive care unit patients rising from 43 to 44. The Orange County Health Care Agency does not update statistics on Saturdays or Sundays.
The county has 70.5% of its ICU beds available and 71% of its ventilators.
The county also reported 835 infections from Friday through Sunday, raising the cumulative since the pandemic began to 303,570.
The 16 deaths reported Monday, all but two of which occurred in October, increased the cumulative death toll to 5,578.
The other two occurred in September, hiking the death toll for the month to 164.
The August death toll stands at 172.
In contrast, the death toll before the more contagious Delta variant-fueled surge was 29 in July, 19 for June, 26 for May, 46 for April, 200 for March, 615 for February, 1,585 for January -- the deadliest month of the pandemic -- and 976 for December, the next deadliest.
Most of those who died in September were unvaccinated, and the same trend is true for those who are hospitalized, Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county's deputy county health officer, said last week.
Chinsio-Kwong again encouraged residents to get flu and COVID-19 shots, stressing it is safe to get both.
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