Orange County reports 9 deaths due to COVID-19 as Labor Day weekend begins

The Orange County Health Care Agency reported nine deaths due to the coronavirus and 251 new infections in its numbers released on Saturday.

Cumulatively, the county has now had 1,051 deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. There have also been 49,509 coronavirus cases countywide.

Hospitalizations due to the virus were at 274, with 83 of those patients in intensive care units. An additional 7,379 tests were reported by the healthcare agency on Saturday, bringing the total number of tests administered to 690,743.

To date, an estimated 43,224 recoveries have been made after a county resident contracted the virus.

Orange County was designated as “widespread” when the state rolled out its latest four-tiered system tracking the transmission of the virus. The county remains on track to move into the next tier of “substantial transmission,” which has thresholds of four to seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a testing positivity rate of 5% to 8%.

Currently, the county is sporting a testing positivity rate of 5.0%. It is averaging 5.6 new infections per 100,000 residents a day over a seven-day period with a seven-day lag.

With warm weather descending upon Southern California’s coastal cities, the temperatures may seem appealing for beachgoers looking to wind down the summer over the three-day Labor Day weekend.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted many things, but beaches are open locally this weekend after Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach all closed theirs for the Fourth of July.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning through Monday, spanning coastal areas in Orange County and San Diego County. Across the Orange County coastline, cities from Seal Beach to San Clemente experienced mid-90s temperatures.

County health officials are urging residents to implement best practices during Labor Day weekend, reminding people to wash their hands, wear face coverings and maintain a social distance of at least six feet apart.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County:

• Santa Ana: 9,522 cases; 250 deaths
• Anaheim: 8,489 cases; 226 deaths
• Huntington Beach: 2,255 cases; 69 deaths
• Costa Mesa: 1,719 cases; 23 deaths
• Irvine: 1,504 cases; 12 deaths
• Newport Beach: 1,067 cases; 22 deaths
• Fountain Valley: 481 cases; 10 deaths
• Laguna Beach: 188 cases; fewer than five deaths

Here are the case counts by age group, followed by deaths:

• 0 to 17: 3,359 cases; one death
• 18 to 24: 7,382 cases; four deaths
• 25 to 34: 10,794 cases; 15 deaths
• 35 to 44: 7,951 cases; 30 deaths
• 45 to 54: 8,028 cases; 92 deaths
• 55 to 64: 5,969 cases; 149 deaths
• 65 to 74: 2,957 cases; 210 deaths
• 75 to 84: 1,696 cases; 224 deaths
• 85 and older: 1,341 cases; 326 deaths

Updated figures are posted daily at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc. For information on getting tested, visit occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-testing.

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