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While numbers of COVID cases continue to rise so does the number of recovered cases.

This week the number of positive cases rose by 263 to 1092 cases in Orange County. The number of recovered cases also rose by 545 to 10,525 cases from the previous week.

The grand total of cases in Orange County rose by 808 cases to bring the new total to 11,770 since March of 2020.

According to the health department, for the month of August, the reported cases for Orange County increased by at least 150 cases per week.

There are 43 cases currently being hospitalized:

5 were fully vaccinated

1 partially vaccinated

38 were not vaccinated

3 on ventilator

Orange County will be holding a COVID-19 Drive Through Testing Site at the Orange County Convention and Expo Center located at 11475 FM 1442 in Orange on Saturday September 4 and Sunday September 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

You will need to use this link to register for the testing: https://bit.ly/ocecovidtest

Include your health information when registering and bring your health insurance card with you.  Those without health insurance will be tested.

This is PCR testing and results are expected typically within 24-36 hours.

Regular testing, along with COVID-19 vaccination, helps protect students, staff, family members, and others who are not currently vaccinated against COVID-19 or are at risk for getting seriously sick from COVID-19. Testing programs help keep students in the classroom and allow them to take part in activities at school they love, according to the CDC website.

COVID-19 vaccines are working very well to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death, even against the widely spreading Delta variant. However, with the Delta variant, public health experts are starting to see reduced protection against mild and moderate disease. For this reason, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for a booster shot so vaccinated people maintain protection over the coming months.

The goal is for people to start receiving a COVID-19 booster shot beginning in the fall, with individuals being eligible starting 8 months after they received their second dose of an mRNA vaccine (either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna). This is subject to authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recommendation by CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume many of the activities you did before the pandemic. Even if you are fully vaccinated, you can become infected with the Delta variant and you can spread the virus to others. To reduce the risk of being infected with the Delta variant and possibly spreading it to others, if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission wear a mask indoors in public.

If you are not fully vaccinated, continue to take steps to protect yourself:

• Get vaccinated.
• Wear a mask.
• Stay 6 feet away from others.
• Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.