Orange County's COVID cases trending downward, officials say

There's new hope Orange County is gaining ground in its battle against COVID-19.

The county says case numbers are trending downward. The Orange County Department of Health says based on new data, we are starting to see that rolling positivity rate go down and say the last peak of new cases occurred three weeks ago.

The Orange County Department of Health tweeted that as of Sunday, September 5, the 14-day rolling average positivity rate was 15.20-percent. A week prior to that it was 17.86 percent. 

RELATED: Florida continues to see decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations

While this is a sign of a decline, experts warned that following the Labor Day holiday weekend that cases could spike again if people did not take necessary precautions.

"We know masks make a difference, we know getting the vaccine makes a difference and I think that if we find a way to continue to go through all the holidays and different things we want to do," said Dr. Victor Herrera. "We have small behaviors that can make a big difference."

Health officials say over the last couple of weeks there has been a decrease in the number of hospitalizations, but ICU’s are still operating over capacity. 

According to statewide hospital data, about 87-percent of the state’s hospital beds are full.