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SANTA ANA (CNS) - The number of COVID-positive patients in Orange County hospitals has increased to 171, up from 149 the previous day, according to the latest state numbers.
Of those patients hospitalized as of Saturday, 22 were being treated in intensive care, down from 24 on Friday.
Some of the patients were initially hospitalized for other reasons and learned they had COVID after a mandated test.
The latest figures come two days after local health officials released their weekly coronavirus numbers, reporting another 940 new cases and 14 additional deaths linked to the virus. That brings the cumulative totals to 713,511 cases and 7,971 fatalities since the pandemic began, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said.
The test positivity rate rose went from 8.1% to 7.2% and went from 8.5% to 7% in the health equity quartile, which measures the communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
Of those hospitalized in the county, 61.7% are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated, according to the latest OCHCA data. The ICU patients are 62.6% partly vaccinated or unvaccinated.
The OCHCA reports COVID-19 data every Thursday.