Orange County coronavirus cases continue to climb higher, with 274 average daily cases reported in the week ending June 24, up from 210 the prior week.
26 new deaths were reported Wednesday, bringing the county total to 299 deaths, including 152 skilled nursing facility residents.
In the past week, the county, once among the lowest for COVID-19 in the state, has surpassed several neighboring counties in new cases, deaths and hospitalizations.
Some county officials have pointed to increased testing figures as a reason for higher cases, but in recent weeks, case surges have far outpaced the number of tests conducted.
For the two weeks ending June 23, there were 3,910 tests done each day on average, up nearly 5% from the 3,735 tests done in the prior two weeks.
Meanwhile, new cases during that time have jumped 55%.
There have been 227,962 tests to date, with 11,016 testing positive, or 4.8%.
Orange County had 485 hospitalizations and 174 ICU patients as of June 24, according to a state database, which is up by 26.3% and 5.5% in the past two weeks, respectively.
The county has nearly 40% of ICU beds available and 65% of ventilators, according to the same state database, which tracks some 6,034 hospital beds.
Go here for more updates on how OC companies are responding to coronavirus.
For a deeper dive into why Orange County is seeing a new COVID-19 surge, see next week’s print edition of the Business Journal.
