SANTA ANA (CNS) — The number of COVID-positive patients in Orange County hospitals was unchanged Saturday at 178, with 24 of those patients being treated in intensive care, up from 23 Friday, according to the latest state data.
The county’s COVID-19 infection rates have held steady and hospitalizations began trending downward this week although six more fatalities were logged, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported.
The county has 28.1% of its ICU beds available, well above the 20% level when officials become concerned.
The county’s testing positivity rate increased from 13.9% as of Monday to 14% Thursday. The rate jumped up from 13.7% to 14.5% in the health equity quartile, which measures the communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
The county’s daily case rate per 100,000 people increased from 30.3 as of Monday to 31.3 Thursday on a seven-day average with a seven-day lag, and from 29.3 to 29.5 for the adjusted rate, also with a seven-day average and seven-day lag.
The county logged 3,114 more infections Tuesday through Thursday, raising the cumulative case count to 589,234. The county also logged six more fatalities, raising the overall death toll to 7,082.
The OCHCA provides regular COVID updates on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Of those hospitalized, 83.2% are unvaccinated, and 86.7% of the ICU patients are not inoculated, according to the agency.
The case rate per 100,000 people for fully vaccinated residents who have received a vaccine booster decreased from 35.6 June 5 to 34.1 as of June 12, the latest data show. The case rate for residents fully vaccinated with no booster went from 22.2 to 19.6 and the case rate for residents not fully vaccinated went from 32 to 30.3.
Meanwhile, a panel of advisors for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously approved giving COVID-19 vaccines to children as young as 6 months old on Saturday. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on the decision later in the day.
The approval applies to vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.
“We have been preparing for this moment,” President Joe Biden tweeted. “Our Administration has already secured vaccine doses for America’s youngest and are now launching a comprehensive effort with states, local health departments, America’s pediatricians, family doctors, and more to help get shots into arms.”