Coronavirus: Orange County Reports 33 New Cases, Opens Up Testing To All Residents Experiencing Symptoms
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County health officials Friday reported 33 new cases of the novel coronavirus and no new deaths, bringing countywide totals to 1,845 cases and 36 deaths.
The number of hospitalized patients decreased from 158 on Thursday to 150 on Friday, though the number of patients in intensive care units increased from 59 to 63. Overall, there have been 170 coronavirus cases in the county's nursing homes, with 102 residents and 68 staffers diagnosed with COVID-19.
County officials have contracted with a temporary staffing agency to ensure adequate emergency medical technicians to help in the event that nursing home staffers refused to report for work.
Orange County CEO Frank Kim said the county would make sure that everyone in a nursing home facility who wants to be tested for COVID-19 would be allowed to get a test.
"In the next 30 days, anybody who wants to be tested can get a test," Kim said. "That's the goal."
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Two residents of Huntington Valley Health Care Center in Huntington Beach, ages 77 and 79, died this week. Fourteen other patients were hospitalized and 24 staffers had tested positive.
Two residents of Anaheim Healthcare Center in Anaheim have also died from coronavirus-related causes. Fourteen employees and 33 patients have also tested positive, though none of them have had to be hospitalized.
Of the county's total coronavirus cases, 33 were people under the age of 18, 144 were between 18-24, 300 were between 25-34, 266 were between 35-44, 717 were between 45-64 and 384 were 65 or older. Men make up 53% of the county's cases and 64% of its fatalities.
Orange Count sheriff's officials reported that 26 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, and tests on another 37 inmates came back negative. The department is waiting on results from five additional tests.
To date, none of the inmate patients have required hospitalization and 12 have recovered from the illness. The number of deputies testing positive remains at three.
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The number of people tested for COVID-19 in the county stands at 22,083.
Before abruptly resigning this week, David Souleles, deputy agency director of Public Health Services, announced six testing sites spread throughout the county.
Residents who have symptoms related to coronavirus, and who lack insurance or cannot get tested through their health care provider, can go to AltaMed sites in Anaheim and Santa Ana, as well as Nhan Hoa Comprehensive Health Care Clinic in Garden Grove and various UC Irvine Health sites.
Previously, the county was only testing severely ill patients due to the scarcity of testing kits, according to Souleles, but "now we are opening it up to anybody who is symptomatic."
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
