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In a now almost routine increase in the setting, measures tracking the rate and spread of coronavirus cases in Orange County broke records again this week, according to a state update released on Tuesday 5 January.
The county’s case rate was 67.8 cases per day per 100,000 population, up from 53.5 cases per 100,000 last week for an unprecedented fifth week.
In comparison, the rate of new cases during the summer flare-up peaked at about 27 cases per 100,000 people.
Positivity testing – the share of positive swab tests out of all tests administered – climbed to 17.1% from 16.9% last week. Recent rates are well above the relatively modest 3.6% positivity seen in early November.
Health equity – a test of positivity in hard-hit and generally low-income neighborhoods in a county – fell to 23.4% from 24.2% last week, indicating slight improvement in areas where access to health care is limited.
But the focus is really on the hospitals, which are filling their past capacities with the sickest in the community.
About 5% of adult intensive care beds in Orange County were staffed and ready to receive patients on Monday – COVID-19 or not – according to the Health Care Agency.
“We need to prepare for the next two weeks because there will be more people who will need to be hospitalized,” said Dr Clayton Chau, director of the Health Care Agency and County Health Officer. .
Orange County is one of many California states to have seen a prolonged increase in cases, Chau said, and due to a drop in test bottlenecks and test results due to the holidays, it is not yet clear to what extent the situation will worsen.
“I’m just preparing for what’s to come in about a week or two,” Chau said, adding that while some public health experts see case rates stabilizing, it will likely be a short respite before a surge of cases. . caused by holiday gatherings.
Chau said the breach of the pandemic rule continued as people traveled and attended Christmas and New Years dinners and parties. Southern California is still under regional stay-at-home orders. most restrictive houses in the state, which prohibit public and private gatherings and restrict business and public sector activities.
It is likely, he said, that people will relax their habits of masking and social distancing because they have heard that the vaccinations have started.
“The vaccine gives us hope – (it) certainly gives me hope,” Chau said, but at the same time, coronavirus-related hospitalizations have never been higher in Orange County, and skeptics should get to the emergency room themselves.
“People who take this cavalier, think of your parents, think of your grandparents,” said Chau. “I’m just begging people to think about the vulnerable population in our community.”
To remedy the situation, residents of Orange County need to get tested as soon as they think they’ve been exposed to COVID-19, Chau said, so they can see their doctor before bad symptoms show up and run off. stay out of emergencies.
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