By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo County reported three new COVID-19 deaths on Friday, and an increase in new cases from a daily average of 202 on Tuesday to 208 on Friday.

Those who recently succumbed to the virus range in age from their 50s to their 80s. The number of SLO County residents in hospitals receiving treatment for the virus has dropped, with 24 currently hospitalized, four in intensive care.

During the past three days, 734 SLO County residents officially tested positive for the virus. San Luis Obispo leads with 162 new cases, followed by Paso Robles with 126, Atascadero with 63 and Arroyo Grande with 52.

In SLO County, 51,680 people have tested positive for the virus and 432 have died.

There have been 8,885,856 positive cases, and 84,026 deaths in California.

More than 80,024,531 U.S. residents have tested positive for the virus, and 958,300 have died.

In addition, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide continues to increase: 422,268,939 cases with 5,893,439 dead.