Monday, state health officials placed Orange County on a watch list along with other counties at risk possibly facing new lockdown orders. According to the analysis, California’s Dept. of Public Health cited outbreaks at assisted living facilities, memory care facilities, and other communal homes in Orange County as key drivers behind the rise in positive coronavirus tests and an upturn in hospitalizations.
Orange County leaders have an action plan they can follow created by the state health department to help slow the disease and avoid renewed lockdown orders.
There are 19 counties in California including Orange County that have been added to the state’s monitoring list. This closely tracks metrics such as rates of new 100,000 residents, averages of positive tests, and new hospitalizations.
In recent weeks, the spread of coronavirus in Orange County has moved closer to surpassing key criteria outlined by the state to identify troubled counties. Monday, June 29, the county reached 108.9 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, surpassing the state’s threshold of 100. The rate of positive tests, 9.2% on Monday, exceeding the state’s limit of 8%. Orange County initially surpassed the state’s testing positivity limit on Friday with 8.5%.
According to Health Care Agency data, there are currently 485 people with COVID-19 in Orange County hospitals, a 66% increase since June 1, when local hospitals had 292 COVID-19 patients. Orange County could face renewed lockdowns that could again limit non-essential businesses’ operations if the rise in hospitalization and other metrics are not reversed.
Before resorting to these measures in the county, state health officials want local leaders to work on a multi-part plan to tamp down the county’s infection rate. Recommended methods include raising public messaging about the importance of social distancing, small to no gatherings, and wearing face masks in public.
State health officials want Orange County to provide more coronavirus testing sites and take more active steps to educate skilled nursing facilities and communities with high case rates on infection control practices and the proper use of protective equipment. Marc Meulman, chief of operations of the Health Care Agency’s Public Health Services, said the agency worked with the state in drafting the action steps. However, no state resources will be dedicated to implementing them.
Bernadette Boden-Albala, dean of UC Irvine’s public health program and an expert in social epidemiology, stated early in the pandemic Orange County residents did an excellent job heeding public health slowing the virus’s spread. Boden-Albala added the urgent issue now is coronavirus-related hospitalizations are increasing while patients with other conditions are starting to return to hospitals. On Wednesday, June 24, Orange County’s hospitals were 65% full, according to an Orange County Emergency Medical Services report.
Sources:
- https://www.ocregister.com/2020/06/29/state-puts-orange-county-on-coronavirus-watch-list/
- https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/CountyMonitoringDataStep2.aspx
- https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/COVID19CountyDataTable.aspx
- https://wordofhealth.com/2020/03/21/coronavirus-update-california-issued-statewide-stay-at-home-order/
- https://wordofhealth.com/2020/06/20/gov-newsom-issues-new-face-mask-order-for-californians/
- https://www.ochealthinfo.com/about/admin/contacts
- https://directory.uci.edu/people/bbodenal
- https://www.healthdisasteroc.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=116352