Orange Co. can’t quite get to red

By OC Tribune Staff on March 2, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

ORANGE COUNTY narrowly missed the standard for moving into the less restrictive “red tier” for coronavirus (Shutterstock).

Almost. Maybe next week.

Plunging numbers measuring the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in Orange County are close – but not quite enough – to bringing the area into the less restrictive “red tier” of substantial risk.

Today (Tuesday) the California Department of Public Health updated its tier assignments, and moved 16 other counties out of the “purple” or widespread tier.

Orange County needed to have an adjusted case rate of 7 new COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000, but came in at 7.6. However, in the two other categories used by the state for tier assignment, the county met the criteria. The test positivity rate was 3.9 percent, well under the 8 percent standard, and the health equity positivity rate (measuring how fairly health resources were available) was at 5 percent, beating the 8 percent requirement.

In fact, the county’s numbers for positivity and health equity also met the standards for the “orange” or moderate tier.

The daily numbers from the Orange County Health Agency showed some slight movement. New cases rose to 186 from 179 on Monday, and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased from 419 to 425. However patients in intensive care units declined from 119 to 116.

Deaths rose to 31 from four the day before, but the accuracy of reporting the number of deceased from day to day has been complicated by problems with the state’s reporting system, according to OCHA.