OC Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 600 As Officials Report 506 New Cases
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County health officials reported 506 new coronavirus cases and 17 additional fatalities Thursday bringing the county's death toll over 600.
The countywide totals now stand at 35,778 cases and 604 deaths since the pandemic began.
Since Sunday, the county has reported 42 coronavirus-related deaths. Last week, the county reported 70 deaths, down from 73 the week before.
Three of Thursday's reported fatalities were skilled nursing facility residents and one was an assisted living facility resident.
Of the county's total deaths, 258 were skilled nursing facility residents, 22 lived in assisted living facilities, and one was homeless. Of the total cases, 1,653 were skilled nursing facility residents, 472 were jail inmates and 136 were homeless.
The number of hospitalized patients dropped from 626 Wednesday to 592 Thursday, while the number of patients in intensive care decreased from 204 to 189, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
County officials said 403,453 coronavirus tests have been administered during the pandemic and 22,787 recoveries have been documented.
The county's case rate per 100,000 residents dropped from 153.2 Wednesday to 149.5, which is still far higher than the California Department of Public Health threshold of 25 per 100,000 residents. The rate of residents testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 11% to 11.7%, higher than the state's desired rate of 8%.
The rate of residents testing positive for COVID-19 dropped from 11.7% to 11.1%, which is still higher than the state's desired rate of 8%.
Santa Ana has the most cases in the county with 6,665, and a case rate of 1,973.6 per 100,000 residents, followed by Anaheim with 6,024, and a case rate of 1,676.4 per 100,000 residents. They are the county's two largest cities by population, and home to many care facilities.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)