SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — The number of coronavirus patients in Orange County hospitals has resumed decreasing after a small increase Saturday, falling by five people to 132, according to the latest state figures out Sunday.
Of those patients, 25 were in intensive care, three more than Saturday's number.
Orange County's COVID hospitalizations had climbed above 1,230 in mid-January during the omicron-fueled winter surge. Some COVID patients likely entered the hospital for other reasons and discovered they had the virus after a mandated test.
The latest numbers come two days after local health officials reported 731 new positive COVID-19 tests and eight more fatalities linked to the virus, raising OC's cumulative totals to 544,844 cases and 6,828 deaths.
The case rate per 100,000 people declined from 4.9 to 4.8, according to data from the Orange County Health Care Agency. The testing positivity rate ticked down from 2.4% to 2.3%, and inched up from 2.7% to 2.8% in the health equity quartile, which measures underserved communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
The county had 28.7% of its ICU beds available and 65.8% of its ventilators as of Friday. Local health officials become concerned when the level of ICU beds falls below 20%.
Of those hospitalized, approximately 84% are unvaccinated and 86% of those being treated in the ICU are not inoculated, according to the OCHCA.
The agency does not report COVID data on weekends.