Orange County’s coronavirus case rate, or average daily cases per 100,000 residents, increased again last week, keeping the region in the red tier for nearly two months straight.
The county posted a case rate of 6, up from 5.1 and 4.6 in the two prior weeks. To enter into the orange, or third, tier, the county would need to post a case rate of lower than 4.
The county’s testing positivity increased slightly from 3.2% to 3.6% last week, once again within orange tier requirements.
If a county’s case rate and test positivity rate fall into two different tiers, the county will be assigned to the more restrictive tier, according to the state’s monitoring system.
In one sign of improvement, the county’s health equity metric, or the testing positivity rate in harder-hit neighborhoods, decreased from 6% to 5.7% last week. It needs a testing rate of less than 5.2% to advance into the next tier.
Go here for more on how the OC business community is responding to COVID-19.
