Orange County Officials Report 120 New COVID-19 Cases, 1 Additional Death
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County officials Monday reported 120 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and one additional death.
The death reported Monday involved a skilled nursing facility resident. Since the pandemic began, 463 skilled nursing facility residents and 89 residents of assisted living facilities have succumbed to the virus.
The new numbers brought the county's totals to 1,287 deaths and 54,760 cases since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations increased from 155 Sunday to 168 Monday, with the number of patients in intensive care rising from 47 to 53. The change in 3-day average hospitalized patients stands at -7.1%.
Last week, Orange County CEO Frank Kim said he was watching the numbers carefully and was "concerned" that daily case rates crept upward, going above the 200 mark on Friday.
"I want to see those numbers smaller... The general trend is a slow, steady rise in caseloads. We're not seeing any significant particular industry sector that is causing it. It's generally throughout the community."
The positivity rate, which is reported each Tuesday, stands at 3.1%, the same as the week before, but the daily case rate per 100,000 people went up from 3.6 to 4.4, which is higher than the cutoff of 3.9 to qualify for a move from the red to the orange tier in the state's coronavirus monitoring system.
Orange County CEO Frank Kim said young adults renting out vacation residences for parties could hinder the county's numbers.
Students returning to school don't appear to have been an issue, according to Dr. Matthew Zahn, the medical director of the county's communicable disease control division.
"At this point, we see really minimal activity," Zahn said last week. "What we've seen so far is quite encouraging."
The OCHCA has reported 900,010 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, including 3,393 reported Monday
Of the 54,760 cases, there have been 48,923 documented recoveries.
To qualify for the orange tier, the positivity rate must be 2% - 4%, and the case rate per 100,000 must be 1% - 3.9%.
Moving to the orange tier would allow retail businesses could operate at full capacity as well as shopping malls.
The orange tier also boosts capacity for churches, restaurants, movies, museums, zoos and aquariums from 25% capacity to half capacity. Gyms and fitness centers could boost capacity from 10% to 25% and reopen pools.
Family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and wall-climbing would also be able to open indoors to 25% capacity under the orange tier.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)