Orange County's Stay-At-Home Order Remains During COVID Outbreak

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — As Orange County waits to take a breath and shout happy new year! By 2021, coronavirus refuses to let up. The regional Southern California stay-at-home order was extended Tuesday for Orange County and the entire southland community.

In Orange County, 2,452 more residents tested positive for coronavirus as of Tuesday. One more person has died due to COVID-19, an assisted living facility resident, and officials from Orange County Health Care Agency reported.

There are 2,106 residents currently hospitalized due to coronavirus as of Tuesday, and of those, 473 have been admitted into Intensive Care Units. Orange County has no adult ICU beds according to the adjusted numbers. The unadjusted numbers show that 8.9 percent of area ICU beds are available, and 42 percent of the county's ventilators are also available. According to the OC Health Care Agency, the change in the 3 day average of hospitalized patients is 5.5 percent.

On Tuesday, Orange County reached a total of 152,059 residents who have been infected with coronavirus since March. Of those, 3,575 were skilled nursing facility residents, 2,073 were inmates at Orange County jails, and 499 were people in the county experiencing homelessness.

Since the pandemic began, 1,847 people have died in Orange County. Of those, 638 were skilled nursing residents, 182 were assisted living facility residents, four were people experiencing homelessness, and one person was incarcerated at the time of his death. Of those Orange County who have died of coronavirus, 1,042 were men, and 796 were women. According to OC Health Care, more Hispanic or Latino residents, 732, have died than any other ethnicity. Caucasian people follow this grim figure, with 630 dead, then Asian community residents, at 332.

According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, an estimated 84,716 residents have recovered from coronavirus since the pandemic began. An estimated 65,496 residents are currently battling the COVID-19 virus in varying levels of severity.

According to Orange County Health Care officials, the county's coronavirus hospitalizations remain at record levels, with more anticipated in the coming days and weeks. In advance of the New Year holiday, the governor's office has maintained its ban on gatherings from different households, in-restaurant dining, and area businesses' ongoing capacity limits. Hair, nail salons, tattoo parlors, and other personal care services are also banned at present due to the record surge.

Southern California's region, which includes 11 counties up and down the state, shows an ICU capacity of 0 percent, health officials report. As residents are likely to gather on New Year's Eve, as they did over Thanksgiving and Christmas despite warnings, the region's "safer at home" orders are likely to continue through January 2021.

The Southern California region covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. Most broadly, the order bars gatherings of people from different households.

Under the order, the following businesses/recreational facilities were forced to close:

• indoor recreational facilities;
• hair salons and barbershops;
• personal care services;
• museums, zoos, and aquariums;
• movie theaters;
• wineries;
• bars, breweries, and distilleries;
• family entertainment centers;
• cardrooms and satellite wagering;
• limited services;
• live audience sports; and
• amusement parks.

Schools with waivers can remain open, along with "critical infrastructure" and retail stores, limited to 20% capacity.

Restaurants are restricted to takeout and delivery service only.

Hotels are allowed to open "for critical infrastructure support only," while churches would be restricted to outdoor-only services. Entertainment production—including professional sports —would be allowed to continue without live audiences.

Four of the five regions carved out by the state are under stay-at-home orders, covering 98% of the state's population. Only far northern California is not under a stay-at-home order.

The order was triggered in each area when the region's ICU bed availability dropped below 15%. In some counties, the official ICU bed availability is 0%. That percentage does not mean that there aren't any ICU beds available since the state adjusts the number based on the ratio of COVID- 19 patients housed in the units.

Newsom again had harsh words for counties and county officials who continue to "thumb your nose" at health orders.

He singled out Riverside County, where Sheriff Chad Bianco has publicly criticized Newsom and said his agency would not be "blackmailed" into becoming an enforcement arm of state health officials. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes has also stated that his department would not enforce that policy.

Newsom has said repeatedly that counties that don't adhere to health restrictions would lose state funding.

"We're in the midst of a pandemic," Newsom said. "I don't know what more evidence you need, particularly, as highlighted, Riverside County is experiencing what they're experiencing in ICUs and hospitals and lives lost. I mean, what more evidence do you need that trying to enforce good behavior will actually save lives? It's a noble and right thing to do.

"To dismiss as many have in the past and some of the same folks ... some still holding onto this as a hoax or face coverings don't matter. ... They're not helping. They're not advancing that cause, and so we will be assertive as we have been, we will be aggressive, as we have been."

In Orange County, Tuesday's cumulative counts of residents by the city infected with coronavirus since March are as follows:

• Aliso Viejo - 1225 Total Cases
• Anaheim - 25876 Total Cases
• Brea - 1666 Total Cases
• Buena Park - 4662 Total Cases
• Costa Mesa - 4948 Total Cases
• Coto de Caza - 104 Total Cases
• Cypress - 1679 Total Cases
• Dana Point - 845 Total Cases
• Fountain Valley - 1912 Total Cases
• Fullerton - 6874 Total Cases
• Garden Grove - 9456 Total Cases
• Huntington Beach - 6049 Total Cases
• Irvine - 5523 Total Cases
• La Habra - 4019 Total Cases
• La Palma - 496 Total Cases
• Ladera Ranch - 510 Total Cases
• Laguna Beach - 493 Total Cases
• Laguna Hills - 934 Total Cases
• Laguna Niguel - 1335 Total Cases
• Laguna Woods - 201 Total Cases
• Lake Forest - 2346 Total Cases
• Los Alamitos - 615 Total Cases
• Midway City - 443 Total Cases
• Mission Viejo - 2472 Total Cases
• Newport Beach - 2225 Total Cases
• Orange - 7312 Total Cases
• Placentia - 2642 Total Cases
• Rancho Mission Viejo - 183 Total Cases
• Rancho Santa Margarita - 986 Total Cases
• Rossmoor - 95 Total Cases
• San Clemente - 1610 Total Cases
• San Juan Capistrano - 1612 Total Cases
• Santa Ana - 29002 Total Cases
• Seal Beach - 684 Total Cases
• Silverado - 59 Total Cases
• Stanton - 1935 Total Cases
• Trabuco Canyon - 514 Total Cases
• Tustin - 3527 Total Cases
• Villa Park - 165 Total Cases
• Westminster - 4099 Total Cases
• Yorba Linda - 2353 Total Cases

Will you stay safer-at-home over the New Year? Tell us in the comments or by emailing your Patch editor.