California will make changes to its indoor mask ordinance later this month. Despite that, the emergency state is in effect even today in Irvine and right through Orange County. In the months since the adoption of the emergency state, it has turned into many different shapes, colored tiers, and sizes.
Many regard the month-wise drops in the coronavirus case count as a positive thing, but we cannot tell when OC will leave the emergency category.
The attention to colored tiers or coronavirus capacity limits is a distant memory. However, the emergency state is still in place, and Irvine’s Mayor Farrah N. Khan is not at all rushed to exit the state. Khan stated that Irvine would keep taking action as required. For your information, Khan founded the first coronavirus task force of Orange County. She also said that the emergency state gives Irvine the capability to bring an action, with no City Council debate.
Khan does not believe that there is a need to hurriedly end the emergency state. She stated that authorities in Irvine would keep monitoring coronavirus disease cases and would take the right action as required. Thus, Khan said that Irvine could initiate action flexibly, without needing to await a city council meeting.
Alternatively in OC, Don Wagner of the Board of Supervisors has verbally supported the move to end the emergency state. As for Wagner, OC has protected its residents well and dealt with coronavirus disease responsibly. All of its coronavirus metrics are superior to the metrics in the counties around it that have more stringent restrictions in place. The Board of Supervisors and Wagner have strived to confirm that there are no restrictions placed on OC natives or their kids beyond what California’s law demands. Like people, the Board is also bound to act as per the law. However, Wagner claimed that Governor Gavin Newsom of California is not following the law and that it must change.
There was a dramatic drop in the COVID-19 case count over the first few days of February 2022, as compared to the previous month. At the start of the year, the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) reported around 27,508 coronavirus cases from December 28, 2021, to January 04, 2022.
From February 01 to 10, 2022, the Orange County Health Care Agency has reported up to 11,398 more coronavirus cases. On February 10, 2022, it reported 1,242 more coronavirus cases and 43 COVID-19 deaths. It made 6,308 coronavirus fatalities, the cumulative total of the county.
The hospitalization count has also dropped when the capacity of adult beds is more than 22% only.
The HCA coronavirus dashboard on February 10, 2022, showed 508 hospitalized coronavirus cases, 118 of which are in the ICU.
HCA Director Clayton Chau sounded optimistic about the month-wise decline and said that it is a potential indication that the coronavirus Omicron strain is on a downward swing. Nevertheless, Chau encouraged vulnerable people to keep masking when indoors for now.
Chau regards the drop in the case count and hospitalization count as a positive indication that the latest surge in the pandemic is reducing. As for Chau, the consistent face masking efforts of OC natives has played a part in the case count drop. OC residents, particularly at-risk people, should keep masking when in public and when indoors to keep other vulnerable people safe.
