Orange County Nears 200K Total COVID-19 Cases
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — The Orange County Health Care Agency Wednesday reported 3,847 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 31 additional deaths, bringing countywide totals to 199,532 cases and 2,179 deaths.
Of the new deaths reported, six were residents of skilled nursing facilities and six were residents of assisted living facilities. Since the state of the pandemic, 707 residents of skilled nursing facilities and 242 assisted living facilities have died after contracting coronavirus.
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The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized Wednesday dipped slightly to 2,180 from 2,200 on Tuesday, though the number of patients being treated in intensive care units increased from 535 on Tuesday to 544 on Wednesday.
"Staffing is becoming more and more of a critical issue," Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said of hospitals in the county, noting that officials have made pleas to to the state to help bring in more doctors and nurses to staff hospital beds.
The dire situation continued as the county opened its first COVID-19 vaccination super site in the parking lot of the Disneyland Resort and reached a deal with Knott's Berry Farm to open another super site there.
The county ultimately hopes to open five super sites in different regions, though supervisors said there were not enough vaccine doses available to open up another at present.
As of Wednesday, the county had received 40,000 doses in storage, with another 35,000 doses expected to arrive next week.