Orange County has reported 513 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 more deaths, bringing the county's totals to 43,367 cases and 809 fatalities.
Saturday was the second consecutive day in which 20 deaths were reported. But officials say that not all of the fatalities happened this week.
Because of the way hospitals report the numbers, it can at times take up to a week before a fatality is confirmed as COVID-19 related and is reported to the county.
Other indicators seemed to be moving in the right direction. The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the county's hospitals dipped from 436 Friday to 434 Saturday, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency, with the number of patients in intensive care units dropping from 152 to 138.
The rate of residents testing positive for COVID-19 in the county decreased from 7.2% to 6.7%. The state's desired threshold is 8%. The county's case rate per 100,000 residents dropped from 121.7 to 117.7, 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 5.9% to -3%, which is lower than the state's threshold.
The county has 31% of intensive care unit beds available, which is better than the state's 20% threshold. And the county's hospitals also have 57% of their ventilators available, higher than the state standard of 25%.
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The county reported that 539,093 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, including 11,515 reported Saturday. There have been 34,115 documented recoveries.
Case counts have been up and down for the past week as officials catch up on the backlog with the state's system, but Orange County Health Care Agency officials reported Thursday that their statistics were up to date.
“Based on the numbers we see today and the analysis of our team, we do believe we're below the 8% threshold'' for the rate of positive tests, Orange County CEO Frank Kim said. At the county's peak it was about 14.9%, he said.
“We think we're looking good again, but we can't confirm that until the state posts its monitoring number,” he said.
“I'm very confident and optimistic our numbers are close to the state number,” said Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Care Agency and the county's interim chief health officer.
Of the fatalities reported Saturday, three were skilled nursing facility residents, three were assisted living facility residents, and 14 were not living in a care facility.
