SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — Orange County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and rates continued trending down, but fatalities logged Thursday put the January death toll over 500, according to the latest data released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The number of COVID-positive patients in Orange County hospitals dropped from 217 Wednesday to 206 Thursday, while the number of those patients in intensive care ticked down from 37 to 34.
The new case rate per 100,000 people decreased from 11 Tuesday to 10.7. The testing positivity rate ticked up from 3.7% to 3.9%, and ticked up from 3.3% to 3.9% in the health equity quartile, which measures underserved communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
The county also reported 427 new positive COVID tests and 15 additional deaths Thursday, raising the cumulative totals to 539,663 and 6,643 respectively.
The county had 23% of its ICU beds available and 62.6% of its ventilators as of Thursday. Local health officials become concerned when the level of ICU beds falls below 20%.
Of the deaths logged Thursday, one occurred in February, raising February’s death toll to 156. Fourteen others happened in January, raising that month’s death toll to 501. December’s death toll stands at 108.
Of those hospitalized, 83% are unvaccinated and 86% of those being treated in ICU are not inoculated, according to the OCHCA.
The case rate per 100,000 people decreased from 8.9 Feb. 19 to 7.1 Feb. 26 for those fully vaccinated with a booster shot; from 14.9 to 5.8 for those fully vaccinated with no booster; and 18.7 to 12 for those not fully vaccinated.
The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County rose from 2,430,510 last week to 2,437,965, according to data released Thursday. That number includes an increase from 2,275,663 to 2,281,901 of 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 154,847 to 156,064. Booster shots increased from 1,194,500 to 1,207,236.
In the most recently eligible age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of children vaccinated increased from 79,858 to 82,166 versus 186,414, who have not been vaccinated. It’s the least vaccinated age group in Orange County. The next-worst vaccinated eligible age group is 25 to 34, with 323,894 inoculated and 135,507 who have not gotten a shot.