SANTA ANA, Calif. - Fourteen more people have died due to COVID-19 in Orange County, the worst local daily death toll since the pandemic began, raising the total of fatalities to 112.
The county has reported 24 coronavirus deaths in the past two days. On Wednesday, officials said eight of the 10 who were reported dead came from
skilled nursing home facilities, but details of the deceased reported today
were not immediately released. One official, however, said about half of
Thursday's fatalities were from nursing homes.
There were 115 new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday, raising the total
count to 4,841.
The number of hospitalized patients decreased from 253 to 247, with the number in intensive care dropping from 93 to 89, according to the Orange
County Health Care Agency.
Orange County CEO Frank Kim said the county on Thursday got the process going for getting state approval to reopen its Phase 2 businesses. The county submitted paperwork that is expected to be preliminarily approved by a state official, who will offer feedback on potential revisions, then the final application will be resubmitted, Kim said.
"We believe we meet all of the criteria'' to reopen Phase 2 nonessential businesses that were previously closed during the stay-at-home orders. A variance from the state, for example, would allow for dining in at restaurants, which are restricted to pick-up and delivery service now. Despite the sharp rise in deaths, county officials are optimistic about winning state approval for relaxing restrictions, Kim said.
"We're more concerned about the hospitalization rate,'' Kim said. He says the rising death toll appears to be the culmination of outbreaks at a few nursing homes a few weeks ago.
"That's part of the reason we stepped up testing in skilled nursing facilities."
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The county has also signed a contract allowing for more mobile testing in jails and homeless shelters in the county, Kim said.
The number of people who have been tested for COVID-19 in the county
stands at 90,130.
County officials remain optimistic that many businesses can reopen by this weekend at the earliest after Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement Monday on
loosening restrictions in Phase 2 of his plan to reopen the state, such as in-
store retail.
Santa Ana has the most cases in the county with 858, followed by Anaheim with 758 and Huntington Beach with 307.
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