Though coronavirus case figures have been steadily declining since hitting their peak in July, deaths attributed to the virus hit a new high in August.
The number of Orange County residents that have died as a result of COVID-19 surpassed 1,000 this week, with 362 deaths occurring in August.
That’s up 30% from July, and about 87% from June.
In the past two weeks, however, deaths are down 24% to 136 deaths, or about 10 each day on average.
Of the 1,018 total deaths in Orange County, 45% occurred in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
The state of California is most closely monitoring case and testing metrics for reopening guidelines, though it has said it would halt any reopening plans should hospitalization figures climb too high.
Average hospitalizations are currently down 11%, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
Go here for more on how the OC business community is responding to COVID-19.
