Orange County Reports 287 Additional COVID-19 Cases, 5 More Deaths
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County health officials reported 287 additional cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths Tuesday though the number of hospitalizations continued to decline.
To date, the county has reported 44,212 cases and 815 fatalities since the pandemic began.
Of the five deaths reported Tuesday, two were skilled nursing facility residents and two were assisted living facility residents.
As of Tuesday, 409 people were hospitalized for the virus, down from the 414 reported Monday. Of those hospitalized, 124 patients were in intensive care units.
The rate of county residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 6.8% to 6.2%, below the state's desired threshold of 8%.
The county's case rate per 100,000 residents dropped from 109.7 to 106.4, which is far higher than the California Department of Public Health threshold of 25 per 100,000 residents.
The change in the three-day average of hospitalized patients went from -3.3% to -4.8%, which is lower than the state's threshold.
The county had 31% of intensive care unit beds available Tuesday, which is better than the state's 20% threshold. And the county's hospitals also have 56% of their ventilators available, well above the state standard of 25%.
Of the 44,212 cases, 35,421 people have recovered from the virus. MEanwhile, 560,104 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, including 6,282 reported Tuesday.
Case counts had been up and down for about a week due to a backlog with the state's system, but OCHCA officials reported Thursday that their statistics were up to date.
As students are reporting back to school, Orange County officials are also keeping an eye on coronavirus cases among children. The state is allowing schools in grades up to sixth to apply for a waiver from all online learning.
As of Tuesday, 446 children up to 3 years old have tested positive for COVID-19, 617 children 4-9 years old have been infected, 468 between 10 and 12 have tested positive, 441 between 13 and 14 have contracted COVID-19, and 1,563 between 15 and 18 have tested positive.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)