Orange County Taken Off California’s COVID-19 Watch List

A worker handles a swab test for COVID-19 at a testing site at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, Calif., on July 15, 2020. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

SANTA ANA (CNS)—Orange County was removed from California’s COVID-19 monitoring list on Aug. 23, starting the clock for all public schools in the county to potentially reopen in early September.

The state mandates a county must be off the watch list for 15 days before all schools can reopen. Orange County’s data on hospitalizations and other key metrics have been moving in the right direction, with the rate of county residents testing positive after being tested for COVID-19 at 5.4 percent, below the state’s desired threshold of 8 percent.