SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County's COVID-19 statistics have remained relatively flat again, according to data released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals ticked up from 218 on Wednesday to 219 Friday, with the number of intensive care patients increasing from 50 to 57.
The county had 24.6% of its intensive care unit beds available and 67% of its ventilators as of Friday.
The county did not update statistics on Thursday's Veterans Day holiday.
The county logged 552 new infections, raising the cumulative number to 308,540 and nine more fatalities, hiking the overall death toll to 5,643.
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine professor of population health and disease prevention, told City News Service that the county's infection rates are “pretty flat” as of now.
But Noymer expects a rise in cases as the temperatures drop.
“There's going to be more this winter,” Noymer said. “People forget how bad last winter was, but this winter will be worse than last summer, but not as bad as last winter.”
Last winter, the county's hospitals were nearly full.
The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County increased from 2,190,754 Nov. 4 to 2,200,493 as of Wednesday.
That number includes an increase from 2,045,291 to 2,053,496 residents who have received the two-dose regimen of vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna.
The number of residents receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine increased from 145,463 to 146,997.
There are 189,201 residents who have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
About 3,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered Tuesday for the newly eligible ages of 5 to 11, the county's deputy county health officer recently told reporters.
Since those ages were authorized to receive the Pfizer vaccine last week, nearly 7,780 doses overall have been administered.
“So seeing 3,000 on a Tuesday is really good,” Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said on Wednesday, adding that she expected the demand would grow on Thursday when students were off from school for Veterans Day.
As of Monday, 69% of the total population have received at least one dose, and 64% are fully vaccinated, Chinsio-Kwong said. When considering just eligible age groups 5 and older, 73% received at least one dose and 68% are fully vaccinated, she added.
Children age 5 to 11 represent 8% of the county's population, Chinsio-Kwong said.
The infection rate has been trending down among the vaccinated and unvaccinated, according to the most recent data from the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The case rate per 100,000 unvaccinated residents was 17.5 as of Oct. 30, but was down to 17 as of Nov. 6, the latest data available. For fully vaccinated residents it was 3.6 as of Oct. 30, and 3.3 as of Nov. 6.
The county's weekly COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 residents increased from 7.2 last week to 7.3 Tuesday, while the test-positivity rate ticked up from 2.5% to 2.8%.
The county's Health Equity Quartile positivity rate -- which measures progress in low-income communities -- increased from 2.4% to 3%.
Five of the fatalities logged Friday occurred last month, hiking October's death toll to 78. One of the deaths occurred this month, marking November's first fatality.
Three of the deaths occurred in December.
The death toll in September stands at 170, close behind August's toll of 173.
In contrast, the death toll before the more contagious Delta variant- fueled surge was 30 in July, 19 for June, 26 for May, 46 for April, 200 for March, 615 for February, 1,588 for January -- the deadliest month of the pandemic -- and 980 now for December, the next-deadliest.