Testing offered as OC Covid-19 skyrockets

Active cases of COVID-19 in Orange County have jumped from 3 to 317 since June 3, according to statistics posted on the Orange County Emergency Management Facebook page Thursday afternoon.

Confirmed cases have risen by 183 since the last report, dated July 1, for a grand total of 487 Orange County confirmed cases since the respiratory virus first surfaced locally in March.

Two new deaths -- one Vidor resident, one Orange resident -- have been added to the latest report, meaning the pandemic has claimed the lives of five county residents.

Orange County is offering free COVID-19 testing three days next week, no appointments needed. Testing will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, beginning with Sunday, July 12 at the Armory at 4103 Meeks Drive, Orange; and Wednesday, July 15 and Thursday, July 16 at the Orange County Convention and Expo Center, 11475 FM 1442.

While the bulk of the new cases – 84 -- falls in the 31 to 60 age range, 70 new cases are among residents 30-and-under. Eighteen new infections are in the 11 to 20 age range and 13 new cases in children under 10 were reported.

An increase of 47 cases in Orange pushed the county seat past Vidor to have the most active of any city in the county, 79 for Orange to 72 for Vidor.

Vidor has recorded the most lab-confirmed cases since record-keeping began, with 127, while Orange has had 114.