THE BATTLE against the coronavirus isn’t won yet. To safeguard against infection – and to speed up the re-opening of schools and business – keep wearing those masks, washing hands and – as appopriate – practice social distancing (Shutterstock).

The road to opening Orange County to the less restrictive “red” tier for coronavirus response appears open in Thursday’s latest report.

According to the county health care agency, two of four major metrics for tracking the COVID-19 pandemic showed improvement, one stayed the same as Wednesday’s number, and one rose but remained low.

New confirmed cases increased from 56 to 139 and deaths stayed stable at 33. But hospitalizations due to the coronavirus fell from 277 to 252. The use of intensive care units for COVID-19 patients moved to 67 from 73.

The cumulative total of coronavirus cases in Orange County is at 248,217, of which 283,305 are considered recovered. Deaths are at 4,379.

Here is the list of OC cities with the most cases. Deaths are in parentheses.

• Santa Ana: 44,247 (775)
• Anaheim: 41,129 (771)
• Garden Grove: 16,270 (340)
• Orange: 11,621 (223)
• Fullerton: 11,112 (266)
• Huntington Beach: 10.348 (195)
• Irvine: 10,235 (78)

Westminster has had 7,006 cases and 174 deaths. Stanton has had 3,137 cases and 57 cases.