One Medical opens office in H.B. as Orange County reports single-day record of 32 COVID-19 deaths

Orange County reported 32 new deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, according to figures released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The 32 deaths, which includes five skilled nursing facility residents and three assisted living facility residents, represents a single-day high for the county during the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous one-day record was 31 deaths on Saturday.

Orange County’s COVID-19-related death toll during the pandemic now stands at 697.

Another option in regard to testing was recently offered for local residents, as One Medical opened an office in Huntington Beach on July 29. The office is at 21034 Pacific Coast Highway, Level 2, Suite C230, in Pacific City.

The primary care provider, part of an emerging trend called concierge medicine, is doing both coronavirus PCR testing and antibody testing. Members pay a $199 annual fee and gain greater access to primary care physicians in typically smaller settings than traditional healthcare, as well as on-demand virtual care through a mobile app.

One Medical also opened its first Orange County office in Irvine on July 6 and has more than 85 offices in large markets across the United States. In Orange County, it is partnered with specialty care services through Providence/Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

The company is offering complimentary 30-day memberships to anyone with COVID-19 concerns during the pandemic using the code GETCARE30, said Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, West Coast regional medical director for One Medical.

Overall, Orange County reported 580 new positive tests for the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the county to 38,711 cumulative cases. There were 3,330 daily PCR tests received, and 448,087 total tests have now been issued.

There are currently 517 hospitalizations due to the virus, with 171 of those patients in an intensive care unit.

“Widespread testing is one of those key public health pillars in fighting and being able to control the pandemic in the long run,” Bhuyan said. “Certainly people who have active symptoms, we want to prioritize those people, but I think we are also aware that about 40% of cases might be spreading from people who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. They might have a high risk of exposure; they might live with somebody who is positive for COVID. Those people need access to testing as well ... and the other people who are at high risk are essential workers. You think about people in grocery stores and food services, and they’re continually potentially being exposed.”

Bhuyan said that One Medical offers an advantage in that because it’s also a primary care platform, it can offer guidance beyond the test.

“There’s a lot of short-term and long-term effects,” she said. “Some people, their symptoms are mild, but some people might have a fever for eight days, or a headache or diarrhea. I think it’s not just important that we test, but it’s important that we’re able to manage the results of that test. The other piece, too, is there’s some people who have symptoms, but they test negative. Now we can manage, maybe your symptoms are due to asthma or maybe your symptoms are due to something else, and let’s manage that condition as well.”

Dr. Michael Lee is the Orange County district medical director for One Medical.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities:

• Santa Ana: 7,390 cases; 188 deaths
• Anaheim: 6,615 cases; 167 deaths
• Huntington Beach: 1,740 cases; 49 deaths
• Costa Mesa: 1,266 cases; 12 deaths
• Irvine: 1,212 cases; 10 deaths
• Newport Beach: 902 cases; 11 deaths
• Fountain Valley: 370 cases; 10 deaths
• Laguna Beach: 138 cases; fewer than five deaths.

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