Fewer Coronavirus Patients In Laguna Beach Area Hospitals

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Orange County officials are encouraged by recent downward trends in coronavirus cases, they reported Thursday. Just 95 new COVID-19 cases were reported, while hospitalization numbers inched down.

The new cases boosted the cumulative number of infections in the county to 251,611 since the pandemic began, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the county decreased from 114 Wednesday to 113 Thursday, with the number of intensive care unit patients dropping from 29 to 28.

Providence Hospital Laguna Beach recently shared a remembrance day on the year anniversary of admitting their first coronavirus patient.

In Laguna Beach, the Providence Mission Hospital staff was honored with a mural by a local artist, Mojdeh Keshmiri Bastani.

The county also logged 19 more fatalities raising the overall death toll climbed to 4,810 Thursday.

The county's death toll for March increased to 133, far below the February number of 558. The death toll for January, the deadliest month by far during the pandemic, stands at 1,479, while December's was 923.

The December and January death tolls reflect a holiday-fueled surge, and monthly totals will continue to be adjusted as deaths are confirmed by Orange County's coroner as being COVID-related, according to officials.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said Wednesday discussed the new, lower trends.

"When you get such low (case) rates a small outbreak in a school or some other place can really jostle the numbers," Kim said of any fluctuation.

Vaccines for Orange County residents remain in high demand.

The county received 105,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines this week.

Officials are working to prepare for a surge of vaccine seekers when eligibility expands to everyone aged 16 and older on April 15, Kim said.

The weekly update from the state, issued on Tuesdays, showed the county's test positivity rate improved from 1.7% to 1.6%, while the adjusted case rate per 100,000 people on a seven-day average with a seven-day lag increased from 2.8 last Tuesday to 3.

The county's Health Equity Quartile rate, which measures positivity in hotspots in disadvantaged communities, improved from 2.6% last week to 2.1%. The county's positivity rates qualify for the least restrictive yellow tier of the state's four-tier system for reopening the economy, but the case counts are still in the orange tier.

What's Open In The Orange Tier:

The county's move into the orange tier of the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy last week allowed restrictions to be eased on a variety of business sectors.

Retail stores now do not have to limit attendance at all, and churches, movie theaters, museums, zoos and aquariums were allowed to expand from 25% to 50% of capacity.

Restaurants were given permission to expand indoor dining to 50% and wineries to offer indoor service at 25%, while bars that don't serve food got the green light to reopen outdoors. Gyms and fitness centers were cleared to expand to 25% of capacity, and family entertainment centers can offer indoor attractions such as bowling.

Under current rules, the county's new case rate must dip below 2 per 100,000 residents to make it to the yellow tier.

The county has administered 1.8 million COVID vaccine doses to residents, Kim said. The county is testing 301.5 per 100,000 residents on a seven-day average with a seven-day lag.

Another 13,998 tests were reported Thursday, upping the cumulative total to 3,428,287.