Orange County Reports 3,077 New COVID-19 Cases, 17 Deaths
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — The Orange County Health Care Agency Wednesday reported 3,077 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 17 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 175,032 cases and 1,943 deaths.
Health officials again reported a record high with 2,249 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, though the county saw a dip in intensive care patients — down to 485 Wednesday from 504 on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Orange County Chief Executive Officer Frank Kim said hospital officials have told him they were "concerned obviously" about the surge in patients, but said that they "seem like they were managing it."
The county's state-adjusted ICU bed availability remained at zero, though the unadjusted figure increased from 4.9% Tuesday to 6% Wednesday, and the Southern California region also remained at zero ICU capacity.
"We have to quickly work on a large-scale vaccination plan," Kim said Wednesday. "We can't rely on CVS, Walgreens and the local hospital system. They're overwhelmed."
Kim also said the county was working on a plan to help all hospitals vaccinate residents because medical workers were "swamped" by patients in need of care and said officials were eying large sites such as school gyms or parking lots to be central vaccination locations.
"We want to do thousands" of inoculations a day, Kim said.
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