Picket Fence Media will post weekly updates on the compilation of COVID-19 statistics and information, which is reported daily by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
For COVID-19 numbers specifically in Schools and South Orange County, scroll down.
Compiled by Zach Cavanagh
As of Friday, March 5, the California Department of Public Health reported that Orange County had administered 819,249 total vaccine doses of the over 10 million administered across the state.
The Orange County Health Care Agency reports its detailed vaccine data every Thursday with a few days of lag. As of Monday, March 1, 254,568 people had been fully vaccinated with two doses in Orange County, 129,081 more than last week on Feb. 22. Another 225,161 people had only received their first dose.
Of those that have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 47% were White, 25% were Asian or Pacific Islander, 13% were Hispanic, 1% were Black, 9% were listed as other and 6% were unknown.
Of those that have received at least one dose, 59% were over age 65, 10% were age 55-64, 10% were age 45-54, 9% were 35-44, 9% were 25-34 and 3% were 18-24.
Of those over age 65 that have received at least one dose, 57% were White, 21% were Asian, 11% were Hispanic, 1% were Black, 6% were listed as other and 3% were unknown. For those under 65 with one dose, 33% were White, 29% were Asian, 15% were Hispanic, 1% were Black, 13% were listed as other and 9% were unknown.
The hospital system is back down to levels of nearly three months ago, when the winter coronavirus surge was on the way up, and even under last summer’s highest levels.
There were 453 hospitalizations reported by the county on Friday – the lowest since Nov. 19. Friday’s total was a decrease of 114 from last week and of 297 from two weeks ago. The county reported a 11.4% decrease in hospitalizations over the last three days.
Orange County reported 137 ICU patients as of Friday – the lowest since Nov. 20. Friday’s total is a decrease of 46 from last week and of 124 from two weeks ago. There are 29.7% of total ICU beds available, an increase from last week’s 14% and the 13% of two weeks ago. There are 60% of ventilators available.
The OCHCA reported 232 new COVID-19 cases and 62 new coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, which adds up to 1,389 cases and 183 deaths recorded in the last seven days. There were 1,994 cases and 166 deaths in the previous seven-day period.
San Juan Capistrano recorded two deaths this week, with 18 in the last 30 days. San Clemente saw one death this week, with eight in the last 30 days. Dana Point recorded one coronavirus-related death this week, with five in the last 30 days.
Over the last 30 days, there have been 13,746 cases and 904 deaths in Orange County. In the 30 days previous to that, there were 64,121 cases and 1,273 deaths, which means there were 50,375 fewer cases over the last 30 days than the previous and 369 fewer deaths.
The death rate continues to decrease. This week’s 30-day number decreased to 904 – down from last week’s 1,053, the 1,218 of two weeks ago and the 1,345 of three weeks ago.
Cumulatively, there have been 247,372 cases and 4,075 deaths in Orange County since the beginning of the pandemic. The county reported its first cases on March 4, 2020.
The county’s most recently reported seven-day average of new cases from Feb. 24 is 235 new cases per day, which is the lowest since Nov. 1 and 131 fewer than reported a week ago with 366 per day on average from Feb. 17. The seven-day case average is reported on a 14-day lag.
In Orange County, there are 81,780 cases where race or ethnicity is not available or provided, but of the cases where race or ethnicity is known, 45.63% are Hispanic or Latino, 24.67% are white, 13.62% are listed as other, 12% are Asian and 1.26% are Black.
Of the 4,075 total deaths, 1,333 are aged 85 or older, 996 are aged 75-84, 789 are aged 65-74, 556 are aged 55-64, 263 are aged 45-54, 88 are aged 35-44, 40 are aged 25-34, nine are aged 18-24 and one is aged under 17. Of the total deaths, 1,524 are Hispanic or Latino, 1,516 are white, 777 are Asian and 41 are Black.
The county’s reported estimated amount of recoveries stands at 235,574 cases. The estimated recoveries are based on the previous 28-day’s cumulative case count.
Orange County’s tier monitoring metrics all continued to decrease this week, with two sitting two tiers down, but the county remained in the state’s purple “substantial” tier – the highest risk level of the state’s four-tiered, color-coded coronavirus monitoring system – in the state’s tier update on Tuesday, March 2. While the county’s daily new cases per 100,000 (7.6) stayed in the purple level, the health equity positivity rate (5%) and countywide testing positivity (3.9%) dropped down to the orange “moderate” level.
COVID-19 in South OC
Locally in South Orange County, as is everywhere else, the rise in cases and death rate have lessened.
San Clemente has 2,860 total cases and 30 total deaths, with 21 cases and one deaths in the last week. The city recorded 215 cases and 8 deaths in the last 30 days, a decrease from the 857 cases and the 10 deaths of the 30 days previous to that.
San Juan Capistrano has 2,700 total cases and 64 total deaths, with 8 cases and 2 deaths in the last week. The city has recorded 124 cases and 18 deaths in the last 30 days, a decrease from the 863 cases and the 27 deaths of the 30 days previous to that.
Dana Point has 1,429 total cases and 29 total deaths, with 22 cases and 1 death in the last week. The city recorded 116 cases and 5 deaths in the last 30 days, a decrease from the 419 cases and the 18 deaths of the 30 days previous to that.
Rancho Mission Viejo has 324 total cases and less than five total deaths, with 3 cases in the last week. The city recorded 25 cases in the last 30 days, a decrease from the 100 cases of the 30 days previous to that. As unincorporated land with under 25,000 residents, the exact death total will not be reported for Rancho Mission Viejo until it reaches five, as it was for cases.
COVID-19 in Schools
Orange County continued to update school cases, which saw a large jump as data from earlier weeks was updated.
From Aug. 16 to Feb. 27, there was a cumulative total of 3,273 cases in Orange County schools with 22 reported from Feb. 21-27 and 40 from Feb. 14-20. Of the 3,210 total cases, there were 1,908 student cases, 700 teacher cases and 602 cases among other staff. As of Feb. 27, there were 1,872 cases in elementary and middle schools, 833 cases in high schools, 107 cases in combined K-12 schools and 461 cases in colleges, universities and vocational schools.
The Capistrano Unified School District is reporting cases in each of its schools to an online dashboard. CUSD’s dashboard lists “active” cases on its dashboard, with the case remaining on the dashboard for 14 days from initial symptoms or test date.
In San Clemente, San Clemente High School has three cases and Bernice Ayer Middle School each have one case.
In Dana Point, Dana Hills High School has two cases.
In San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Hills High School has one case.
In schools whose boundaries include those cities, John Malcolm Elementary School has one case, Capistrano Valley High School has one case.
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