The rate of positive COVID-19 cases in Irvine remains the lowest per capita compared to neighboring cities, according to Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel.

As of July 30, the number of COVID-19 cases in Irvine had reached 1,160. That’s an increase of 773 in a one month period. With the increase, it becomes the second consecutive month that positive COVID-19 cases in Irvine exceeded the total number of cases it reported the month prior.

June 1: 198

July 1: 419

July 30: 1,160

During the July 28 City Council meeting, Hamel presented the city’s latest testing totals, along with case updates on the city’s positivity rates. Hamel said the city’s free COVID-19 testing program has tested more than 2,000 residents.

“We have now tested over 2,000 people,” Hamel said during his brief presentation. “And as promised by Curogram, our vendor, we are seeing results returned with 48 hours and sometimes even closer 24 hours.”

On July 10, Irvine became the first city in Orange County to offer free COVID-19 testing to residents in the city. However, the program become fully booked shortly after registration opened.

Still, while more appointments have become available, Hamel added that the Irvine Police Department received complaints regarding the registration process.

“Especially for those that are trying to register via a method other than a mobile device,” he said. “Every effort has been made to help them and get them a test.”

While cases continue to increase in Irvine, Hamel presented an optimistic statistic regarding per-capita positivity rates.

“As of July 26, Irvine has experienced 1,107 known cases, and this is at a per-capita rate of 3.95 cases per-1,000 residents,” Hamel explained. “And as reported out two weeks ago, this continues to be the lowest per-capita rate of all the cities including Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Lake Forrest, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Santa Ana and Tustin,” Hamel explained.

Slowing the Spread

As Irvine remains the lowest in terms of positive rate, companies around Irvine are doing what they can to help slow the spread of COVID-19 cases in Irvine.

The city has received more than 1 million face masks, including it’s most recent donation from FivePoint.

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Mask up, Irvine! Yesterday, community partner FivePoint donated 1 million masks to help stem the tide of COVID-19 and safeguard Irvine first responders, residents, and workers. These face masks will be distributed to the community as part of the City’s overall response efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. We want to thank FivePoint for this generous donation, their dedication to the Irvine community, and their continued collaboration. . . . #weareirvine #millionmasks #maskup #thankyou #fivepoint #irvine #cityofirvine

A post shared by City of Irvine (@cityofirvine) on Jul 28, 2020 at 5:50pm PDT

On July 27, FivePoint Holding LLC announced a donation of 1 million face masks for health care and law enforcement personnel, first responders and essential workers throughout Irvine.

“The health and safety of all residents, and especially health care workers and first responders on the front lines, remains the city of Irvine’s highest priority as we continue closely monitoring the COVID-19 crisis,” Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said. “We extend our deepest appreciation to our partner FivePoint for their dedication to the Irvine community and continued collaboration.”

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