SANTA ANA—Orange County’s encouraging COVID-19 trends have continued with 42 new infections reported and hospitalizations at rates not seen since the beginning of the pandemic. The new cases boosted the cumulative total to 255,413. Hospitalizations have dropped from 42 on June 5 to 41 on June 6, and the number of intensive care unit patients decreased from 13 to 10. Hospitalizations “fluctuate up and down, but there’s a clear downward trend,” Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said June 2. “We’re trending in the right direction. If there was something like a gold or platinum tier, we’d be there by now.” Five fatalities were logged June 6, bringing the overall death toll to 5,083. The death toll for May stands at 10, 41 for April, 185 in March, 583 in February and 1,548 for January, the deadliest month during the pandemic, and 959 for December, the next deadliest. Another 11,537 COVID-19 …