SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — Orange County's COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations continue to rise at a steady pace, according to data released Tuesday by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Hospitalizations increased from 134 on Friday to 158 as of Monday, the latest data available. Intensive care unit patients rose from 12 to 18.

The county has 26.8% of its ICU beds available, well above the 20% level when officials get concerned.

The county's testing positivity rate increased from 7.6% as of Thursday to 8.2% as of Monday. The rate went from 3.8% to 4.5% 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 25.6 Thursday to 26.8 as of Monday on a seven-day average with seven-day lag, and from 19.2 to 20.5 for the adjusted rate with a seven-day average and seven-day lag.

The county logged 7,045 more infections Friday through Monday, raising the cumulative case count to 579,292. There were no new fatalities, leaving the overall death toll at 7,045.

The OCHCA provides regular COVID updates on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Of those hospitalized, 83.3% are unvaccinated, and 86.5% of the ICU patients are not inoculated, according to the OCHCA.

The test positivity rate "is too high, but everyone knows COVID is happening. It's not a secret," Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine professor of population health and disease prevention, told City News Service on Friday. "So it's punching through boosted people. ... Breakthroughs are happening and it's sort of more of the same."

Noymer said he is most concerned about the possibility of a rising tide in the winter. "My real big fear is next winter, also because people are over getting boosted again and again and winter will be another six months away of waned immunity," he said.

The case rate per 100,000 people for fully vaccinated residents who have received a vaccine booster increased from 27.7 on May 21 to 30.8 on May 28, the latest data available show. The case rate for residents fully vaccinated with no booster went from 17.2 to 18.3, and the case rate for residents not fully vaccinated went from 25.2 to 27.

The number of vaccines administered in Orange County increased from 2,318,150 to 2,319,958, according to Tuesday's data.

That number includes an increase from 2,178,671 to 2,180,765 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 decreased from 139,479 to 139,193 as officials continue to adjust to a new accounting of shots administered in the counties across the state.

Booster shots increased from 1,292,844 to 1,299,053.

In the age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of children vaccinated increased from 91,281 to 91,544, versus 177,036 who have not been vaccinated.