8 Coronavirus Deaths, 300 Hospitalized As OC Seeks New Top Doc

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — The day after Orange County's top doctor stepped down from her post as chief health officer, the director of the agency was tasked with filling her shoes.

Dr. Clayton Chau, who will now add Chief Health Officer to his title, announced that eight more Orange County residents have died from complications of coronavirus, Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 185 residents.

Hospitalizations are trending up this week, according to statistics released from Orange County Health Care Agency.

On Tuesday, 304 Orange County Residents were hospitalized due to coronavirus, and just under half of them are in intensive care units.

Out of Orange County's 3.2 million residents, just under 165,000 have been tested for the virus, and of those, 7,614 have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to an algorithm, created by OC Health Care, approximately 3,372 residents have recovered from the virus.

In Orange County, here are Tuesday's coronavirus totals by city:

• Aliso Viejo: 34
• Anaheim: 1,350
• Brea: 49 (unchanged)
• Buena Park: 216
• Costa Mesa: 153
• Coto de Caza : 7 (unchanged)
• Cypress: 79 (unchanged)
• Dana Point: 35 (unchanged)
• Fountain Valley: 72
• Fullerton: 257
• Garden Grove: 423
• Huntington Beach: 373
• Irvine: 225
• La Habra: 138
• La Palma: 25 (unchanged)
• Ladera Ranch: 18 (unchanged)
• Laguna Beach: 47 (unchanged)
• Laguna Hills: 36 (unchanged)
• Laguna Niguel: 42 (unchanged)
• Laguna Woods: 10 (unchanged)
• Lake Forest: 85
• Los Alamitos: 89
• Midway City: 21 (unchanged)
• Mission Viejo: 79 (unchanged)
• Newport Beach: 161
• Orange: 338
• Placentia: 146
• Rancho Mission Viejo: 9 (unchanged)
• Rancho Santa Margarita: 25 (unchanged)
• San Clemente: 71 (unchanged)
• San Juan Capistrano: 62 (unchanged)
• Santa Ana: 1,512
• Seal Beach: 28 (unchanged)
• Stanton: 93
• Trabuco Canyon: 19 (unchanged)
• Tustin: 135
• Villa Park: 8 (unchanged)
• Westminster: 172
• Yorba Linda: 94 (unchanged)
• Other* 390
• Unknown** 488

According to OC Health Care, the "Other" category includes the aggregate case count of the unincorporated areas of the county that have less than 5 cases, plus cases incarcerated in Orange County jails.

As part of her last order of business, Dr. Nichole Quick informed the board of supervisors that community transmission of the virus appeared to be rising.

Dr. Clayton Chau, the new director of the county's Health Care Agency, will serve both jobs, acting as chief health officer following the abrupt resignation of Dr. Nichole Quick, Monday. Quick faced intense pressure over her order requiring face coverings to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Quick, who had also been assuming some responsibilities of the director of public health services, resigned Monday night after drawing criticism from some residents and two members of the Board of Supervisors who had repeatedly grilled her publicly regarding her order last month to require face coverings as the county allowed some businesses to reopen.

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City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.