COVID Cases Trending Down In Lake - Hospitalization Update

    Newly reported cases of COVID 19 continue a steady decline in Lake County. Data released on Friday, February 4, indicate 2,485 cases recorded during the week, down from 3,599 the week prior and 4,358 two weeks ago. Twenty-five deaths were reported, the first since January 21, when 16 were reported.
    According to CDC data, Lake County’s positivity rate on those tested continues to hover around 28%. There have been 181 new hospital admissions in the past week, a number that shows a decline from previous weeks highs of around 22%. Of those hospitalizations, data shows an average of 15 beds in the county have been in use for COVID patients in the last week, a 7% decline from the previous week.
    Lake County Schools has seen a substantial improvement in its COVID situation in recent weeks, when 26 schools in the county were posting a testing positivity rate of over 5% Currently, just one school - Lake Hills - is in the county’s ‘red’ zone of 5% positivity or more. Two weeks ago, only one school, Umatilla High, was in the county’s ‘green’ zone, which denotes a positivity rate of below 3%. This week, that number has jumped to 26, more than half of the county’s 41 district-operated campuses and indicating a nearly complete flip of the county’s situation in just two weeks.