SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — Orange County's COVID-19 hospitalizations increased slightly for the second consecutive day Sunday.

The number of coronavirus patients at county hospitals rose to 209 Sunday, up from 205 Saturday and 190 Friday, according to state figures.

The number of intensive care unit patients was 44, up from 43 a day earlier. OC had 20.5% of its ICU beds available and 72% of its ventilators as of Friday, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The county also reported 104 new infections and logged 12 more deaths Friday, raising the cumulative totals to 302,735 cases and 5,562 deaths since the pandemic began. The OCHCA does not report cases or deaths on weekends.

As of Oct. 16, the county's new case rate per 100,000 vaccinated residents was 2.7, down from 3.1 on Oct. 9. The rate among unvaccinated residents dipped from 14.6 per 100,000 to 13.7.

The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County increased from 2,147,048 last Thursday to 2,162,820 this week.

That number includes an increase from 2,005,340 to 2,019,902 of residents who have received the two-dose regimen of vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna. The number of residents receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine increased from 141,708 to 142,918.

There are 190,068 residents who have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

The top providers of vaccines are the OCHCA at 26.20%, CVS at 18.4%, Walgreens at 6.2%, Kaiser Permanente at 5.4%, UC Irvine Health at 2.7%; Walmart at 1.9%, Safeway, Vons and Pavilions at 1.2%; Families Together of Orange County at 1.10%, and multiple others below 1%.

The county's overall weekly COVID case rate per 100,000 residents, which is released on Tuesdays, improved from 7 to 6.6 this week, while the testing-positivity rate fell from 2.7% to 2.5%. The county's Health Equity Quartile positivity rate — which measures progress in low-income communities — dropped from 3% to 2.5%. 

Of the deaths reported Friday, three occurred this month, raising the death toll for October to 15. Five occurred in September, hiking the death toll last month to 162. The August death toll stands at 172. One occurred in March.

In contrast, the death toll before the more contagious delta variant-fueled surge was 29 in July, 19 for June, 26 for May, 46 for April, 200 for March, 615 for February, 1,585 for January — the deadliest month of the pandemic — and 976 for December, the next deadliest.

Most of those who died in September were unvaccinated, and the same trend is true for those who are hospitalized, Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county's deputy county health officer, said last week.

Chinsio-Kwong again encouraged residents to get flu and COVID-19 shots, stressing it is safe to get both.