Orange County extends health emergency as more children get respiratory illnesses

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — Orange County has extended its health emergency as more children get sick with respiratory illnesses.

Health officials say this will help Children’s Hospital of Orange County receive more medications.

The chief medical officer says bed space is over capacity and the emergency room lobby has been extended into the hospital’s driveway.

The hospital says it is seeing more than 150 children a day. Some of the older children are being sent to other hospitals for adults.

The county declared the emergency on Nov. 1 amid a combination of infections that were keeping hospitals packed.

That includes RSV, COVID-19 and influenza. Health officials have urged parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID and the flu. There is no approved vaccine for RSV although one remains in development.

OC declares health emergency due to rapidly spreading viral infections