SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County health officials have reported 25 more deaths from COVID-19 and 702 newly confirmed cases, bringing the county's totals to 29,011 cases and 494 fatalities.
Of the deaths reported Saturday, six were residents of skilled nursing facilities, one was a resident of an assisted living facility, and 18 did not live in a care facility, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients increased from 682 on Friday to 692, and the number of patients in intensive care dropped from 235 to 232.
The county has administered 346,071 coronavirus tests and documented 13,301 recoveries, the HCA reported.
Orange County is on the state's watch list for counties experiencing high rates of new cases and hospitalizations. It has shown some improvement, but with some continuing concerns.
The county's case rate per 100,000 residents decreased from 253.5 to 215.5, still far higher than the California Department of Public Health threshold of 25 per 100,000 residents. The rate of residents testing positive for COVID-19 dipped from 13.9% to 13.5%, but is still higher than the state's desired rate of 8%.
The change in three-day average of hospitalized patients dropped from 2.6% to -1.1%, lower than the state's threshold of 10%.
Also, the county has 36.2% of its intensive care unit beds available, more than the state's threshold of at least 20% to handle a surge. The county also has 64.5% of its ventilators available, more than double the 25% minimum expected by the state.
In the county's jails, 434 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19,
with 392 having recovered and 42 in medical isolation being treated for symptoms. The county is awaiting the results of 46 tests.
Of the 494 COVID-19 deaths in the county, 232 were skilled nursing facility residents and 17 were assisted living facility residents.
Of the 29,011 cases, 1,446 are skilled nursing facility residents.
On Wednesday, a drive-thru testing site for residents opened at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is meant to ease some of the county's testing needs. The county hopes to reach 1,200 daily tests within two weeks.
Additionally, Rite Aid expanded its COVID-19 testing capacity by opening nearly 100 sites across California Thursday, including Orange County locations in Anaheim, La Habra, Costa Mesa and Mission Viejo.