Orange County At Purple Tier, County CEO Positive For Coronavirus

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —The Orange County Board of Supervisors is grappling with a return to the Purple—most restrictive—tier of Gov. Gavin Newsom's Blueprint for a Safer Economy Monday even as one of their own was infected with coronavirus.

The re-classification from red to purple tier will officially take effect Tuesday, according to the governor's office. Orange County had been in the slightly less-restrictive "red" tier of the four-level matrix, which allowed more businesses to operate at increased capacities, and allowed restaurants to offer indoor dining. But the county was already anticipated to fall back to "purple" in light of rising daily case numbers. Other Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego were already in the "purple" tier.

Anyone can catch the highly contagious coronavirus, as Orange County CEO Frank Kim l, has been as careful as possible to avoid being infected with COVID-19, so he said he was "startled" when he tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Initially, I was a bit startled since I had a negative test" just days before his diagnosis, which came Nov. 10, Kim said. "I thought it was the flu."

Kim developed "a little body ache" and more symptoms the following day. He decided to test once more before heading back into the office. He hadn't interacted with anyone, and had not left his home.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim has developed COVID-19, and contact tracers expect he was infected around Nov.5. Kim developed symptoms on Nov. 7 and was officially diagnosed positive on Nov. 10.

Contact tracers were able to get in touch with everyone, "so that part of it is working," Kim said. The worst part is lack of appetite, he says. "Things don't taste right."

This cautionary tale rings close to home at a board of supervisors known for resisting mask wearing until late summer, 2020.

Kim, who is known for being careful with regard to social distancing and mask usage, says that his case was shows how highly infectious coronavirus is.

"You can have COVID, you can be infectious even if you're not symptomatic, so it's important for everyone to take it seriously so we're able to stem the growth of infections," Kim said.

Kim is frequently tested and he quarantined as soon as he felt symptoms so no one else he has been in contact with has been infected, he said.

According to OCHCA data, 1,255,178 COVID-19 tests have been conducted since the start of the pandemic, including 4,848 reported Monday. There have been 56,548 documented recoveries.

The county's positivity rate, which has been reported each Tuesday but was moved up to Monday, jumped up from 3.3% last week to 4.6%, and the daily case rate per 100,000 population ballooned from 5.6. to 10.8 on Monday.

The county's Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate, which measures a county's response to virus hot spots, decreased from 5.7% to 5.5% as of Nov. 10. It was not updated yet on Monday. The county has to reach at least 5.2% in that metric to be upgraded from the red tier to the orange tier.

Kim said the case rate per 100,000 jumped higher than 8 as officials expected because the state began using a 4-day lag, instead of a 7-day lag.

The county is providing 277.9 tests per 100,000 residents on a 7-day average with a 7-day lag, but Kim said the county is aiming for 300 and may open up more lanes at super sites in Anaheim and Costa Mesa to speed up wait times.

In order to test more residents in advance of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays the board of supervisors and the Orange County Health Care Agency say at-home testing is the answer.

According to Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Andrew Do, the county has acquired 500,000 test kits to detect coronavirus from saliva. Do says plans are underway to make the test kits available at all public libraries and city halls.

"We want it to be mobile and at the neighborhood level, so people can see testing as part of their holiday safe practices," he said. "Before you go to see your grandparents, two or three days before you get tested, and after the family get-together, you wait two or three days and get tested again. Then that way you know going in or coming out of a get-together if you're safe and the people you are with are safe."

The protocol of releasing those test kits is still being worked through, Do says.

Experts recommend the two- to three-day buffer because it can take that long before the infection is detected from a test.

"We haven't worked through the protocol yet" but this week Orange County will have a program that will include locations that are easily accessible to people, Do said.

The rise in cases is "alarming," he said. "It points to a very difficult winter season coming up, and couple that with the holiday season and people need to be very vigilant."

County officials will also soon issue recommendations on best practices for get-togethers over the holidays, which include dining outdoors and keeping the gatherings small in number, Do said.

"Make it a lunch thing where the weather is more tolerable," he said.

County officials had expected to fall back into purple, but under earlier state guidelines that would have given enough time to allow for indoor dining at restaurants on Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping for malls at a higher capacity, but new state rules mean the tighter restrictions will be implemented sooner.

Instead of a 10-day lag, now businesses are expected to comply with the tighter restrictions as quickly as possible.

Schools won't be closed, but there would be no new school reopenings unless they were able to acquire a variance from the county.

Among the businesses and institutions that would be closed for indoor activity would be churches, museums, zoos, aquariums, gyms, restaurants and movie theaters.
Do said residents should reconsider how they gather for holiday celebrations.

"We have to be very thoughtful now how we celebrate the holidays," Do said. "It is a time of reflection and family bonds and friendship, but this year in particular we have to weigh the very severe price we will all have to pay if this pandemic goes unchecked... Increasing the risk of infecting them would far outweigh the benefit of getting together with friends and family."

Do said he is also mindful of the burden the restrictions are having on businesses.

"I want to emphasize this is something deep in my heart that there are a lot of people suffering," Do said. "Not just from COVID, but a lot of business owners and families are seeing their livelihood and not knowing what the future will hold. This holiday season will be a strain on a lot of people."

But cutting back on social gatherings and staying home as much as possible is important "so we can get back to rebuilding what a lot of business owners have lost."

The most recent coronavirus counts by city in Orange County are as follows:

  • Aliso Viejo - 481 Total Cases

  • Anaheim - 11206 Total Cases

  • Brea - 668 Total Cases

  • Buena Park - 1900 Total Cases

  • Costa Mesa - 2240 Total Cases

  • Coto de Caza - 62 Total Cases

  • Cypress - 682 Total Cases

  • Dana Point - 329 Total Cases

  • Fountain Valley - 662 Total Cases

  • Fullerton - 3182 Total Cases

  • Garden Grove - 3638 Total Cases

  • Huntington Beach - 2877 Total Cases

  • Irvine - 2190 Total Cases

  • La Habra - 1794 Total Cases

  • La Palma - 193 Total Cases

  • Ladera Ranch - 205 Total Cases

  • Laguna Beach - 275 Total Cases

  • Laguna Hills - 387 Total Cases

  • Laguna Niguel - 570 Total Cases

  • Laguna Woods - 88 Total Cases

  • Lake Forest - 1037 Total Cases

  • Los Alamitos - 261 Total Cases

  • Midway City - 151 Total Cases

  • Mission Viejo - 1069 Total Cases

  • Newport Beach - 1347 Total Cases

  • Orange - 3078 Total Cases

  • Placentia - 1199 Total Cases

  • Rancho Mission Viejo - 86 Total Cases

  • Rancho Santa Margarita - 435 Total Cases

  • Rossmoor - 73 Total Cases

  • San Clemente - 670 Total Cases

  • San Juan Capistrano - 708 Total Cases

  • Santa Ana - 12512 Total Cases

  • Seal Beach - 333 Total Cases

  • Silverado - 43 Total Cases

  • Stanton - 772 Total Cases

  • Trabuco Canyon - 251 Total Cases

  • Tustin - 1602 Total Cases

  • Villa Park - 73 Total Cases

  • Westminster - 1324 Total Cases

  • Yorba Linda - 967 Total Cases

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on the Orange County Patch