Orange County Reports 739 New COVID-19 Cases, 33 More Deaths
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) -- Orange County reported another 739 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the cumulative case total to 237,077.
Additionally, 33 more fatalities were reported, raising the death toll to 3,312.
The number of COVID-19 patients in county hospitals declined from 1,233 on Friday to 1,164 on Saturday — continuing a downward trend over the past few weeks. But the number of
patients in intensive care increased from 342 to 347.
Orange County's adjusted ICU bed availability is still at zero.
Orange County CEO Frank Kim said Friday he is nervous about Super Bowl weekend leading to another spike.
"I'm worried about the Super Bowl,'' Kim said. "The concern is that the governor has lifted the stay-at-home order and there's a general sense of euphoria seeing older relatives and family members getting vaccines, so there's a sense of safety we haven't felt in a long time.''
Kim said the fear is that some younger adults may let their guard down and "go out and interact in unsafe ways during Super Bowl weekend, and I would hate to see us have a spike.''
As the number of COVID-19 patients decreases, hospitals are able to turn their attention toward vaccinations, Kim said.
"Why are they able to do that? Because the hospital bed census is coming down,'' he said. "We could lose an important teammate, an ally in the vaccination efforts (if there is a spike), and we can't have that. We need to build on the momentum that has been hard-fought since the holidays started in November.''
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
