Issued by 
Spencer Custodio |
Orange County saw thousands of new corona virus cases over the weekend, while hospital admissions continue to rise as growing opposition to the regional shutdown order grows.
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The County Health Care Agency reported more than 5,200 cases over the weekend, and 3,250 cases were reported Monday – the highest number ever reported.
OC also ranks second among those hospitalized by the virus.
As of Monday, 1,287 counties were in hospitals, of which 288 were in intensive care units – an unprecedented number.
State public health officials estimate that 12 to 13% of new public cases end up in hospitals in two to three weeks.
The OC reported an average of 2,000 new cases per day in the past week.
He said several critical care and emergency room doctors have been admitted to the hospital Trouble with the county hospital system, Which poses a risk to non-viral patients because important resources – such as staff – are used up quickly.
The usual stay for an intensive care unit is two to four days. For some corona virus patients, their stay can last for several months, which blocks the system, doctors say.
As the capacity of the intensive care unit in Southern California drops to less than 15%, people are protesting the Regional Order House, which went into effect last Sunday.
As of Sunday evening, the region’s ICU capacity had dropped to 4.2%.
As of Monday, the district health care agency said the virus had gone without the ICU capacity of the OC for patients. However, 9.3% of the total ICU beds are in the county, which is known as the “uncorrected ratio”.
“Adjusted = takes into account the percentage of COVID-19 positive patients in the ICU (higher percentage of COVID-19 positive patients in the ICU, further correction). Uncorrected = empty% ICU available, ”reads one tweet Health Institute.
The governor’s order closed essential businesses such as barbers and beauty salons. It also covered outdoor dining, but restaurants can still take it out and distribute it.
According to various social media posts and news reports, there are many businesses such as restaurants and bars Violation of orders Because they can’t close again.
This order prohibits outdoor playgrounds and overnight camping, although hiking is allowed and outdoor recreational facilities are open. State public health officials quietly reversed the closure of the playground last Wednesday.
U.C. According to Irvine epidemiologist Sangyuk Shin, the state and federal governments need to step up and send more direct aid to closed businesses and the unemployed.
“That social and economic support is an important component of combating it and ending epidemics from a public health perspective. So it needs to be in balance when it comes to how we can best protect our residents in California,” Shin said in a phone call Monday.
UC Irvine economist Amy Glaser said legislators should think about incentives for businesses and the public that could prevent regional health-housing regulation while motivating more people to follow public health guidelines.
“Say we pay $ 50 a week to test for negativity – so now they don’t gather and don’t go to bars,” Glaser said in a Monday phone interview.
Glaser said an incentive scheme could work for employers, limiting internal activities and encouraging them to strictly adhere to health measures. The grant will encourage further testing, which public health experts say is important to combat the spread.
“Tell every employee who tests negative for the corona virus that they pay $ 10 a day,” Closer said. “So instead of using a sledgehammer, give people money so they can do what they are asked to do.”
The business hours of some busy retailers need to be extended so that they can prevent overcrowding inside the home, which contributes to the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the virus situation is expected to continue on a dangerous path.
“It’s very sad and sad to see the numbers continue to rise. We do not see any evidence that it will slow down at any time. Although the future is unpredictable, we will see the situation worsen, at least until mid – January,” Shin said.
Since the outbreak, the virus has killed 1,694 counties in 105,764 confirmed cases.
The virus has already killed nearly three times as many people a year on average as the flu in Orange County.
In terms of environment, Orange County has had an average of 20,000 deaths since 2016, including 543 annual flu deaths. State health data.
According to the state death statistics, cancer kills more than 4,600 people, heart disease more than 2,800 people, Alzheimer’s disease more than 1,400 people, and stroke kills more than 1,300 people.
With more than 19,000 deaths as of October, the district has an average annual death toll of State health data.
Shin said the corona virus is now the leading cause of death in the country.
“Last week alone there were nearly 12,000 COVID 19 deaths. In comparison, we had 10,000 heart disease deaths, which traditionally ranks first in deaths in the United States, so COVID-19 ranks first in deaths from heart disease,” he said.
Epidemiologists say things are out of control and a strike like March should be called to reverse the deteriorating trends.
“Of course. I think the government should do everything we can to mobilize resources to support the most vulnerable – the homeless, the people working on essential jobs, the general public. These communities need to be financially supported to actually control infectious diseases.
Shin Saga, epidemiologist Andrew Noymar also said essential retailers should close.
“It’s more important now than in March. I would have seen more malls open in March than now. Noymer said in a phone interview last Thursday.” I would say, yes, indoor shopping should be closed. We are really in crisis. ”
And Thanksgiving adds an upsurge to an upsurge.
“We are already seeing its impact. I think at some point in the future we will look back and talk about what Thanksgiving meetings are, the lack of adequate leadership on the part of the government,” Shin said, failing to send a public message about viral activities.
He fears another spike on top of one spike from Christmas later this month.
Various social media posts show OC residents going to parties, bars and nightclubs on weekends in violation of public health orders.
Bars and indoor dining played a major role in the spread of the virus during the first waves.
“We dropped the ball because we had enough public health news, and our political leaders are telling people conflicting news,” Shin said.
Supervisors in Orange County have protested the regional shutdown order Demands local control Government Gavin Newsom on the matter.
Shin said public health professionals like himself were to blame for the failed publicity.
“The fact that a large number of people do not take COVID 19 seriously is a major failure of leadership, perhaps part of a public health community like mine,” Shin said. “It’s a failure for all of us. It’s very serious.”
Shin said the infection response and results between the United States and other countries were completely different.
He pointed to South Korea, which has a population of about 51 million.
“The United States, South Korea, the country I came out of, is an example of how they were last week. For the first time, their cases go over 1,000,” Shin said.
OC was three times higher on Sunday.
Shin said it was an obvious reflection of failures.
“Their leadership was able to get people to recognize that it was their most serious disease, to make sacrifices together and control the epidemic. We could not do that in Orange County. Despite our population being part of South Korea in Orange County, we had three times as many cases.”
The latest in Orange County virus numbers from county data is here:
Infections | Hospitalization & Deaths | City data by city | Statistics
Spencer Custodio is the voice of the OC employee reporter. You can reach him [email protected] Follow him on Twitter P Spencer Custodio