Coronavirus: Testing positivity rate down to 3.9% in Orange County on Sept. 16

The Orange County Health Care Agency reported the local rate at which tests are coming back positive for coronavirus was 3.9% on Wednesday, Sept. 16, within the range the state has set for counties in its red (substantial virus threat) tier to move to the orange (moderate threat) tier, which the O.C. could possibly do on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

However, the seven-day average for new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people in the county is 4.7, and would need to reach 3.9 by Tuesday to meet the other state criteria for calling in the orange tier.

On Wednesday, the county reported 135 new cases of the coronavirus, increasing the cumulative total to 51,259 cases.

The current seven-day average for positive tests dropped from 207 cases per day on Friday, Sept. 11, to 166 cases per day Wednesday.

The state of California updated its four-color, tiered map on Tuesday and two counties, Marin and Indio, were downgraded from widespread (purple) to substantial (red). Orange County must remain in the red shade for one more week before it could possibly move down to the moderate (orange) tier.

There were six new deaths reported in Orange County on Wednesday, raising the death total to 1,111. The data on deaths in the county is compiled from death certificates or gathered through the course of case investigations and can take weeks to process, officials say. The most recent deaths were on Sept. 13.

Of the 1,111 deaths countywide, 418 were skilled nursing facility residents, 75 were in assisted living facilities and one was listed as homeless.

The county’s breakdown of deaths by age is as follows:

85 and older: 31% (342)
75-84: 22% (238)
65-74: 20% (226)
55-64: 13% (158)
45-54: 9% (95)
35-44: 3% (30)
25-34: 1.3% (17)
18-24: <1% (4)
17 and younger: 0% (1)

An estimated 7,334 new cases of the virus have been reported since Aug. 17.

It is estimated that about 89% of the cumulative reported cases, or 45,900 people as of Wednesday, have recovered. The count of people who have recovered is based on the prior 28-day cumulative case count.

The county reports a total of 755,781 tests have been given since testing began, and at least 6,054 tests were reported in the last 24 hours.

The county also reported 202 patients in hospitals with the coronavirus on Wednesday. The peak in the county was 722 confirmed hospitalizations on July 14. The county report showed there are 67 patients in ICUs as of Tuesday.

Data posted each day is preliminary and subject to change, officials emphasize. More information may become available as individual case investigations are completed.

You can find the Orange County Health Care Agency dashboard here.

Hospitalizations and deaths: