Nearly 4,500 Cases Of Coronavirus In Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County, with its 3.2 million residents, has been "relatively lucky" with its number of positive coronavirus cases, according to reports from the University of California Irvine.

On Monday, 59 people tested positive for the coronavirus. A total of 4,434 residents have been affected by the disease, and the Orange County death toll of the COVID-19 virus remained unchanged at 88.

Santa Ana has the most cases in the county with 744 residents affected by the virus, followed by Anaheim with 701 and Huntington Beach with 291.

On Friday, the county partnered with the research arm of the college to better learn statistics that may assist with reopening the county.

UC Irvine will attempt to gain a snapshot of coronavirus exposure in the community according to UCI Assistant Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, Daniel Parker.

The new research effort will "better focus" on at-risk populations to understand how immunity to COVID-19 may last. To date, 80,500 people have been tested for the virus.

The next steps toward understanding the virus will be to see how many people were exposed.

"We want to get a snapshot of how many people have been exposed to it in the community," Parker said. "It gives us how many people were asymptomatic, and to start with that's useful in itself if it's a really big number."

Currently in Orange County, as of Monday:

• Aliso Viejo: 24
• Anaheim: 701
• Brea: 30
• Buena Park: 137
• Costa Mesa: 64
• Coto de Caza: 6
• Cypress: 55
• Dana Point: 24
• Fountain Valley: 50
• Fullerton: 153
• Garden Grove: 224
• Huntington Beach: 291
• Irvine:154
• La Habra: 77
• La Palma: 16
• Ladera Ranch: 13 (no change)
• Laguna Beach: 44 (no change)
• Laguna Hills: 27 (no change)
• Laguna Niguel: 35 (no change)
• Laguna Woods: 8 (no change)
• Lake Forest: 37
• Los Alamitos: 62
• Midway City: 10
• Mission Viejo: 60
• Newport Beach: 133
• Orange: 212
• Placentia: 85
• Rancho Mission Viejo: 6 (no change)
• Rancho Santa Margarita: 19
• San Clemente: 57
• San Juan Capistrano: 45
• Santa Ana: 744
• Seal Beach: 15 (no change)
• Stanton: 46
• Trabuco Canyon: 12
• Tustin: 65
• Villa Park: 6
• Westminster: 75
• Yorba Linda: 67
• Other*: 353 (includes jail inmates)
• Unknown**: 192

A job fair was announced Monday for sites across California as one of the largest security companies in the nation sought to add thousands of new employees to their workforce.

After being some of the first in the county to be infected with coronavirus, and since recovering, several Orange County Firefighters are now donating antibody-rich plasma. It will be used to help those suffering COVID-19.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced loosening restrictions to allow most of the counties in the stateto reopen businesses in his phase 2 plan. Orange County's officials are optimistic that many businesses will be open by the weekend.

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Read also: Coronavirus In California: What To Know Monday, May 18