Irvine’s Mayor Farrah N. Khan described the nationwide surge in the COVID-19 case count as an unsurprising situation. At the same time, Khan urged the community to be cautious because the so-called Delta strain of the virus is spreading aggressively.
Orange County (OC) has not yet issued a COVID-19 mask mandate, but Khan said that the Orange County Health Care Agency would soon monitor transmission indicator data from the CDC. This act of monitoring will determine whether OC will put the mandate into effect.
As for Khan, from a coronavirus case rate standpoint, this is not a stage that requires the implementation of the mandate. The Mayor of Irvine may not feel that it is required now, but she looks forward to seeing new guidance from HCA Healthcare in the last week of July.
Khan told Irvine Weekly that over 90% of the senior population as well as 73% of people aged between 16 and 65 years in the city are vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccination rates in Irvine City are high. Nevertheless, Khan has been informed that the vaccinated people could get infected with coronavirus disease without demonstrating symptoms in breakthrough COVID-19 cases. This means they could also be asymptomatic coronavirus disease carriers.
On the bright side, Khan told Irvine Weekly that the COVID-19 case count is not increasing identically to the 2020 summer and autumn seasons.
When it comes to the so-called breakthrough COVID-19 cases, Khan stated that vaccinated people tend to be tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting hospitals for other issues. What makes the situation complicated is the fact that the symptoms remain hidden in the patients. This means many of them could be living without realizing that they are possible COVID-19 carriers. Therefore, Khan said that it is important to vaccinate people or protect the unvaccinated to reduce the case count across the US.
The whole concept of COVID-19 infections in vaccinated people may not be easy to understand. Nevertheless, Khan is attempting to not only do everything she could as Irvine’s Mayor to educate people on taking precautions but also keep encouraging vaccination for everyone.
Khan said that people in the United States of America are making a big effort to tackle the situation and spread the word about the precautions. As for Khan, taking the precautionary measures would require everyone to play their part in it. She feels that the move would depend on seeing a rise in COVID-19 vaccination rates in the nation.
On July 23, 2021, the Orange County Health Care Agency(OCHCA) reported 423 more coronavirus disease cases. It was the greatest single-day coronavirus disease case count since February this year. Coronavirus hospitalizations in OC have also gone up after July 18, 2021, as per the related data from OCHCA. As per HCA Healthcare, 156 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment, with 44 still in the ICU.
