OC sees jump in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations

OC sees jump in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Orange County have more than doubled in the past two weeks, raising concerns among some health officials. “I’m worried about the trend,” said Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine [associate] professor of population health and disease prevention. The county has 1.8 million of its 3.3 million population fully vaccinated, so there are enough unvaccinated residents to potentially eventually threaten overwhelming the hospital system, Noymer said. “I’m not saying it will become overrun,” he said. “It’s not a prediction… (but) 40% is enough with these new variants, which are more transmissible, to generate enough cases to overrun the hospital system,” he said, referring to the unvaccinated population.