Orange County Reports 453 New COVID-19 Cases, Rise In Hospitalizations
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County reported another 453 COVID-19 infections Tuesday while the number of people hospitalized with the virus continued to rise.
The new infections raised the county's caseload to 262,524. Officials also reported one more COVID-related death raising the death toll to 5,140.
As of Tuesday, there were 212 people hospitalized in the county due to COVID, up from 194 on Monday. There were 48 COVID patients in intensive care, unchanged from Monday.
The county had 27% of its ICU beds available as of Tuesday.
According to the latest weekly averages released Tuesday, Orange County's average daily case rate per 100,000 residents increased from 4.9 to 8 in a one-week period, and the test positivity rate jumped from 3.3 to 4.9%%.
The county's Health Equity Quartile rate, which measures the disadvantaged communities hardest hit by the pandemic, increased from 3.4% to 4.4%.
The most dominant variants in the county in recent weeks have been the Delta, Alpha and Gamma variants, according to the OCHCA. Delta and Alpha are considered much more highly contagious, with Delta now considered the most dominant strain statewide.
Experts say the current COVID vaccines all provide a high degree of protection against infections and -- while they will not prevent all infections -- they prevent serious illness and death.
As of Thursday, the county reported that 1,876,853 residents were fully vaccinated.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)