Orange County Grapples With Vaccine Planning As Death Toll Rises

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —Orange County health officials reported 29 more people have died as a result of coronavirus as of Monday. Thus far in the pandemic, 2,120 residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19.

A total of 410 residents died of coronavirus in December, the deadliest month of the pandemic to date, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. Those 29 deaths were staggered, taking weeks to be logged.

This eclipses the summer peak when 379 died in July and 367 succumbed to coronavirus in August, according to Orange County Health Care Agency statistics.

The county also reported 3,259 new COVID-19 diagnoses on Monday, raising the cumulative total to 191,861.

The number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus edged up from 2,216 on Sunday to 2,221, matching Saturday's count. The number of intensive care unit patients fell to 544, down three from Sunday.

Of Monday's 29 reported deaths, seven were skilled nursing facility residents and three resided in assisted living facilities. Since the pandemic began, 699 skilled nursing facility residents and 235 assisted living facility residents have died.

There were 26,231 tests reported Monday, raising the cumulative total to 2,283,663, according to the health care agency. An estimated 117,211 people have recovered from coronavirus in Orange County since the pandemic began last March.

County officials are working on setting up two "supersites," which will be announced this week, where vaccines will be distributed.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said it is an effort to help hospitals dole out vaccines, as doctors and nurses are too overwhelmed with caring for patients now.

Sheriff's officials reported a steep decline in the number of Orange County Jail inmates infected with coronavirus, putting the number at 279, which includes 25 newly booked prisoners. At the apparent peak of the outbreak late last month, 1,246 were infected.

Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Breckner said seven inmates are currently hospitalized and the department is awaiting the results of 1,167 tests.

The county's state-adjusted ICU bed availability remains at zero, and the unadjusted figure is 5.9%. The state created the adjusted metric to reflect the difference in beds available for COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients.

As of Monday, the 11 counties of the Southern California region are at zero ICU availability, and the county has 35% of its ventilators available.

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