San Juan Capistrano Coronavirus Updates: OC Counts Above Orange

Ladera Ranch CA

02 October, 2020

7:21 PM

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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Orange County Health Care Agency officials Friday reported six more people have succumbed to COVID-19 and 209 more have been diagnosed with coronavirus. The county's death toll now stands at 1,281 with a cumulative positive case count at 54,118 since the pandemic began. In San Juan Capistrano, a total of 528 residents have developed coronavirus since the pandemic hit the region in March. Four of the six reported dead on Friday were skilled nursing facility residents. Since the pandemic began, 461 of the deaths were skilled nursing facility residents and 89 lived in assisted living facilities. That leaves 731 others who died from coronavirus that were not living in nursing homes. As cases continue to persist, whether from a Labor Day surge or not, Orange County CEO Frank Kim said he was concerned to see the case rate rise above 200. "I'm concerned," Kim said. "I want to see those numbers smaller... The general trend is a slow, steady rise in case loads. We're not seeing any significant particular industry sector that is causing it. It's generally throughout the community." The reporting of COVID-19 fatalities comes from multiple hospitals and the Orange County coroner's office and are often delayed, so the six deaths happened over the past few weeks. But the Orange County Health Care Agency has reported 67 fatalities since Sunday, following 77 last week. The deadliest day for the county since the pandemic began remains Aug. 3, when 19 people died on the same day. The last day of double-digit deaths was Aug. 31, when 10 people died on the same day. "When you see a surge of cases, the unfortunate second shoe to drop in our community and in communities across the country is deaths, which is a lagging indicator," said Dr. Matthew Zahn, the medical director of the county's communicable disease control division. The deaths are "overwhelmingly related to the surge in cases a couple of months ago," Zahn said. "Our hospital and ICU numbers (since then) have really gone down, which is really important." Hospitalizations jumped from 158 on Thursday to 175, with the number of patients in intensive care inching up from 45 to 48. The county has 34% of its intensive care unit beds available and 67% of its ventilators. The change in 3-day average for hospitalized patients rate increased from 5.4% on Thursday to 6.8%. The positivity rate, which is reported each Tuesday, stands at 3.1%, the same as last week, but the daily case rate per 100,000 people went up from 3.6 to 4.4, which is higher than the cutoff of 3.9 to qualify for the state's orange tier. It means the county will remain in the red tier for at least another two weeks, but there is hope the trend will continue and that the county will be able to move into to the orange tier by mid-October. Read: Care For Others Stops Coronavirus Spread In North OC: Report The OC Health Care Agency released the current by city coronavirus case count as of Friday: Aliso Viejo - 388 Total CasesAnaheim - 9254 Total CasesBrea - 489 Total CasesBuena Park - 1547 Total CasesCosta Mesa - 1822 Total CasesCoto de Caza - 46 Total CasesCypress - 555 Total CasesDana Point - 276 Total CasesFountain Valley - 512 Total CasesFullerton - 2532 Total CasesGarden Grove - 2974 Total CasesHuntington Beach - 2418 Total CasesIrvine - 1704 Total CasesLa Habra - 1444 Total CasesLa Palma - 159 Total CasesLadera Ranch - 172 Total CasesLaguna Beach - 228 Total CasesLaguna Hills - 318 Total CasesLaguna Niguel - 438 Total CasesLaguna Woods - 67 Total CasesLake Forest - 855 Total CasesLos Alamitos - 195 Total CasesMidway City - 122 Total CasesMission Viejo - 852 Total CasesNewport Beach - 1133 Total CasesOrange - 2460 Total CasesPlacentia - 938 Total CasesRancho Mission Viejo - 65 Total CasesRancho Santa Margarita - 353 Total CasesRossmoor - 66 Total CasesSan Clemente - 539 Total CasesSan Juan Capistrano - 528 Total CasesSanta Ana - 10438 Total CasesSeal Beach - 282 Total CasesSilverado - 43 Total CasesStanton - 658 Total CasesTrabuco Canyon - 201 Total CasesTustin - 1299 Total CasesVilla Park - 55 Total CasesWestminster - 1052 Total CasesYorba Linda - 742 Total Cases Last Thursday's and Friday's numbers put the county over the top, said Dr. Clayton Chau, the director of the Health Care Agency and the county's chief health officer. "We've had a few days of uptick in numbers, small but significant to affect our tier system," Chau told the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Chau said it appears that Labor Day gatherings led to the increase. One of the thorniest problems is young adults renting out vacation residences for parties, Kim said Monday. Students returning to school don't appear to have been an issue, Zahn said. "At this point, we see really minimal activity," Zahn said. "What we've seen so far is quite encouraging." Kim said the increase in cases amounts to about 30 diagnoses a day. Officials have not seen anything in particular fueling the slight increase. County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said there is concern about a seesawing back and forth between the red and orange tiers because if the county has to step back a tier, that locks it into place for at least three weeks even if the metrics match a less-restrictive tier. State officials were expected on Friday to announce new guidelines for mass gatherings, but did not do so. The mass gatherings include theme parks, concerts and sporting events. The expectation was that those types of activities will not be allowed until a county moves up to the least restrictive tier of yellow, which could take months. A total of 28,000 Employees were laid off at Disneyland, Walt Disney World this week. Officials from the city of Anaheim have called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to come to their town and see firsthand what the shutdown has done to their city. This week in Orange County: Disneyland Resort Reopening Guidelines Back To Drawing BoardMom Wins Settlement, School Memorial, In Son's OC Golf Cart DeathShort-Term Rental Blues? Newport Beach Complaint Hotline Now Open5 Ways To Fall For Autumn In Orange County112th Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade Returns For 2020 SeasonRita Rudner Puts COVID Twist On Dr. Seuss Classic For School KidsSouth OC Lady Angler, 82, Catches Big Tuna Off Dana PointLargest Helitanker To Aid Southland Firefighters, Edison FundedThese Orange County Ghost Stories Will Keep You Up At NightHow To Observe Orange County's Election Process