9 Coronavirus Cases In Orange County

Nine people in Orange County have tested positive for coronavirus, but there is no evidence of widespread infection, county supervisors and health officials said today.

Six of those patients were tested positive by the county, with the results confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The county got positive test results in the other three cases but is still awaiting confirmation from the CDC.

One of the patients has since recovered and that case is no longer considered active.

Some other takeaways:

• The Orange County superintendent has suggested that all public schools close. The decision is being made at the district level. Some have already done so, and many school boards are holding emergency meetings on whether and when to follow suit.
• The county has 1,124 test kits on hand. This doesn't include private sector doctors and hospitals or commercial labs such as Quest or LabCorp, which have their own tests.
• The county will begin providing daily updates on the number of active cases, tests run, and other details. The updates will be posted to its website every day at 5 p.m.
• The OC Sheriff’s Department originally asked people to avoid making non-essential visits to jail detainees. However, late Friday it suspended all jail visits except by attorneys.

STAY UP TO DATE:

• Orange County's novel coronavirus update page

UPDATE 5:10 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect the change in policy on jail visits.

This story was originally published at 1:42 p.m.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that there are nine active coronavirus cases in Orange County. One of the cases is no longer considered active because the patient has fully recovered. We regret the error.