Orange County COVID hospitalizations fall, more deaths added

Orange County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations fell significantly again, but 29 more residents were added to the death toll, according to data released Friday by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Every day this week, the county has logged fatalities in the double digits but the last three days, the fatalities have been about 30 each day and most of the deaths occurred in recent weeks.

“We should expect that the death curve is going to fill in,” Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine professor of population health and disease prevention, told City News Service on Wednesday. “The January (death toll) is going to look an awful lot like the August (death toll) before it’s all said and done,” Noymer said.

“Omicron is less severe, but you can’t have hospitalizations in the thousands … without some deaths,” he added.

Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county’s deputy health officer, told reporters on a media call Wednesday that Omicron has ignited the largest wave yet in cases, and that can account for the spike in deaths.

“You have to realize the sheer number of COVID cases with this surge is so much higher than any other surge we’ve experienced,” Chinsio-Kwong said. “It’s possible we may see the same number of deaths as in the fall, but proportionate to the number of cases, that should be much lower than previous surges.”

The number of COVID patients in county hospitals fell from 1,067 Thursday to 1,022, while the number of intensive care unit patients ticked down from 184 to 178.

The county had 17.6% of its ICU beds available as of Friday and 58% of its ventilators. County officials get concerned when ICU bed availability dips below 20%.

Of those hospitalized, 85% are unvaccinated. The unvaccinated rate is 87% for the COVID patients in ICU.

“The numbers of hospitalizations are starting to trend down and the message is things are looking good,” Noymer said.

The county reported 4,751 more infections, raising the cumulative total since the pandemic started to 508,043.

“Unfortunately, we have hit milestones” in cases and deaths with more than 500,000 infections and 6,000 fatalities, Chinsio-Kwong said.

With the Lunar New Year, the Super Bowl and this Sunday’s NFC championship game in Inglewood looming, Chinsio-Kwong warned residents to be careful and get vaccinated or boosted if they haven’t already. She also advised they should opt for a well-fitted mask and celebrate outdoors if possible.

Of the fatalities logged Friday, a dozen occurred this month, raising the January death toll to 105. Eleven of the fatalities occurred last month, raising December’s death toll to 100. One of the fatalities occurred in November, four happened in October and one happened in September.

Chinsio-Kwong said Wednesday of January’s deaths at that time, 43 were not vaccinated, five were vaccinated and received a booster and 19 got two shots but no booster. Of those inoculated who died, the majority were “older in age,” she said.

Of the fatalities logged Friday, four were 45 to 54 years old, three were in the 55-64 category, four were 65-74, seven were 75-84 and 11 were 85 or older.

November’s death toll stands at 105, October’s at 133, September’s at 197 and August’s at 182.

In contrast, the death toll before the Delta variant fueled a summer surge was 31 in July, 19 in June, 26 in May, 47 in April, 202 in March and 620 for February. January 2021 remains the deadliest month of the pandemic, with a death toll of 1,598, ahead of December 2020, the next-deadliest with 985 people lost to the virus.

Two of the dead reported Friday were skilled nursing facility residents, raising the overall toll in that category to 1,235. One was an assisted living facility resident, raising the death toll in that category to 650.

Outbreaks — defined as three or more infected residents — increased from 44 to 45 at elderly assisted living facilities from Jan. 24 to 26, the most recent data available, but decreased from 33 to 30 for skilled nursing facilities.

The county’s adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 residents dipped from 165.5 Thursday to 158.2 Friday. The testing positivity rate inched down from 23.9% to 23.3%, and edged down from 28.2% to 27.4% in the health equity quartile, which measures underserved communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

Chinsio-Kwong said county officials have seen a slowing in vaccinations of late, “but we’re still seeing some strides.” Of those who were inoculated, 44% have gotten a booster shot in the county, which is above the national average of 40%, she said.

The county is 69% fully vaccinated, and 73% vaccinated among eligible residents, Chinsio-Kwong said.

The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County reached 2,385,501, according to data released Thursday. That number includes an increase from 2,219,206 last week to 2,231,852 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 153,238 to 153,649. Booster shots increased from 1,043,267 to 1,095,438.

In the relatively recently eligible age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of children vaccinated increased from 57,435 to 62,239 versus 206,341, who have not been vaccinated. It’s the least vaccinated age group in Orange County. The next-worst vaccinated age group is 25 to 34, with 318,241 inoculated and 141,160 who have not gotten a shot.

The age group that has gotten the most booster shots is 55 to 64.

The case rate per 100,000 decreased from 93.2 on Jan. 15 to 69.2 on Jan. 22 for residents who were fully vaccinated with a booster shot; 210.4 for Jan. 15 to 126.6 on Jan. 22 for the fully vaccinated without a booster; and 304.4 to 194 for those not fully vaccinated.

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