CORONAVIRUS cases and deaths rose in Orange County (Shutterstock)

The World Health Organization on Friday announced that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a “global emergency.”

But that doesn’t mean that the coronavirus has been eradicated or doesn’t continue to be a health risk. The latest figures from the Orange County Health Care Agency show sharp increases in  key statistics on the virus.

New cases – for the period of April 27 to May 3 – have more than tripled from 562 last week to 1,859 this week. Last week’s count of new cases showed a decline from 669.

Deaths attributed to the coronavirus doubled from nine to 18. The previous week had a total of 10.

Other categories showed declines. Hospitalization related to the virus declined from 86 to 67 and the use of intensive care units for COVID-19 patients slipped from 12 to 11.

To date, confirmed cases of coronavirus in Orange County are at 720,239 and deaths at 8,127.