CORONAVIRUS stats in Orange County are up on Wednesday, but much better than a month ago (Shutterstock).

Tuesday’s encouraging numbers from the Orange County Health Care Agency turned around somewhat in Wednesday’s report about the coronavirus.

According to the OCHCA, confirmed new cases rose to 305 from Tuesday’s 235. Deaths declined from 13 to eight, but hospitalizations increased from 288 to 291 and the use of intensive care units to treat COVID-19 patients rose from 72 to 82.

However – for comparison purposes – the number of cases a month ago was 557, with 564 hospitalizations and ICU use at 132. Deaths were at five.

To date, there have been 297,237 coronavirus cases in the county, of which 283,216 are considered recovered. There have been 5,426 deaths.

Nationally, The New York Times reports that ­– over a 14-day period – new cases have fallen by 26 percent and deaths are up by 7 percent. In California, Los Angeles Times is calculating that new cases are down 32 percent and deaths down by 21 percent, over a comparable period.

To our readers: In order to provide context in the reporting of coronavirus statistics, we will begin offering a weekly comparison of numbers, starting on Oct. 8.