ORANGE COUNTY Health Care Agency stats on coronavirus still showing a downward trend in new cases (Shutterstock).

Tuesday’s report on the coronavirus pandemic in Orange County showed  sharp drops in confirmed new cases and hospitalizations.

The county health care agency’s statistics for the four-day period of July 29 to  Aug. 1 showed 3,708 new cases, That’s a daily average of 927, compared to the previous count on Friday of 3,790, which averages to 1,263.

Hospitalizations declined from 338 to 295.

However, deaths increased from eight to 11, and the use of intensive care units to treat COVID-19 patients stayed steady at 49,

To date, Orange County has had 640,721 confirmed cases, of which 604,138 are considered recovered. The death total is 7,214.

Nationally, The New York Times is reporting that – over a two-week period – new cases are down 2 percent, but hospitalizations have risen by 4 percent and deaths by 3 percent.

In California, Los Angeles Times reports a 25 percent decline in new cases over a similar period – but deaths have risen 24 percent.