300K OC Residents Positive For COVID Since 2020, Flu Season Near

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —Orange County's coronavirus-related hospitalizations are up though the infections are down. Three people were reported to have died as a result of COVID-19, two of them in September.

The county reported 162 new infections and logged three more deaths, raising the cumulative totals to 302,016 cases and 5,531 deaths since the pandemic began.

The county's weekly COVID case rate per 100,000 residents, released on Tuesdays, improved from 7 to 6.6, while the testing-positivity rate fell from 2.7% to 2.5%.

The county's Health Equity Quartile positivity rate — which measures progress in low-income communities — dropped from 3% to 2.5%.

Hospitalizations increased from 175 on Monday to 185, with the number of intensive care unit patients declining from 34 to 32, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The county had 26.2% of its ICU beds available and 71% of its ventilators.

Despite Tuesday's increase, hospitalization numbers have been on a downward slide since late July.

Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county's deputy county health officer, said the number of children in intensive care at Children's Hospital of Orange County dropped from six on Friday to none as of Monday.

Of the deaths reported Tuesday, two occurred last month, raising September's death toll to 145. October's death toll remained at six. Another one occurred in August, raising the death toll for that month to 169.

In contrast, the death toll before the more contagious Delta variant-fueled surge was 28 in July, 19 for June, 26 for May, 46 for April, 199 for March, 615 for February, 1,585 for January — the deadliest month of the pandemic —and 976 for December, the next deadliest.

Most of those who died in September were unvaccinated. The same trend is true for those who are hospitalized, Chinsio-Kwong said.

Chinsio-Kwong again encouraged residents to get flu and COVID-19 shots, stressing it is safe to get both.

"Flu is around the corner— technically, it's already here," she said. "It's between October and May and we'll see a spike in November."

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are projecting a "more severe flu season compared with last season" because "many people were not exposed to the flu last season or did not get vaccinated. The last thing you want to do is deal with COVID as well as the flu."

City News Service contributed to this report.