New COVID-19 cases dropped 9% in Orange County in the last week.
There were 2,523 new cases, or 360 each day on average, reported in the county in the week ending Thursday, down from 2,765, or 395, from the week prior.
Today marks the fifth consecutive day that the county has remained off the state’s COVID-19 watch list, due to falling cases, positive testing rate, hospitalizations and other metrics.
The county’s case rate—or average new cases over two weeks—is currently 82.1 per 100,000 residents, below the county threshold of 100 per 100,000 residents.
The state also tracks whether counties have seen a greater than 10% increase in the three-day average of hospitalized patients. As of Thursday, OC’s average is down 0.3%.
Orange County currently has a 5% positive test rate, lower than the state’s threshold of 8%.
The county must now maintain these lower coronavirus metrics for two weeks; after that, it could be cleared to resume in-person teaching with new social distancing protocols after Labor Day weekend.
Each district has the final say in reopening schools.
Go here for more updates on how OC companies are responding to coronavirus.
