Holiday surge for COVID-19

It was a rough Christmas for hundreds of Orange County residents who contracted the coronavirus in a surge of infections that has echoed nationwide.

According to the county heath care agency, the number of confirmed new cases from Dec. 24-27 is 6,475. The average is 1,295, a big jump from Thursday’s 655. The OCHA did not report case counts and other related stats over the holiday weekend.

The number of deaths reported today (Monday) totaled 13 over that period, and hospitalizations rose from 217 to 282.

Patients being treated for COVID-19 in intensive care units climbed from 58 to 66.

To date, Orange County has had 329,025 confirmed cases, of which 307,898 are considered recovered. The total of deaths is now at 5,877.

Across the nation, new cases have surged 83 percent over 14-day period, according to The New York Times, and deaths are up 3 percent. In California – over a similar time period – new cases are up 73 percent and deaths by 1 percent.