Five more deaths, dozens of new COVID-19 cases surface in Fresno, Tulare counties
Fresno County health officials reported 70 new cases of coronavirus disease on Thursday, and Tulare County increased its total by 57 cases, as the number of patients who have tested positive for the virus continues to climb in the central San Joaquin Valley.
In a Thursday evening update, Kings County announced that it had 265 new cases – all but 20 connected with state prisons in Avenal or Corcoran. No new deaths were reported there.
The death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory disease associated with the virus, also climbed on Thursday. Fresno County reported three deaths, raising the number of lives lost to 40. In Tulare County, which has the state’s second-highest rate of deaths per capita, two more deaths were reported, pushing fatalities there to 92.
Twelve new cases were reported in Madera County on Thursday afternoon, and Merced County reported an additional 10 cases. No new deaths were reported in either Madera County or Merced County.
Tulare County continues to have more deaths from the coronavirus than the region’s other counties combined – Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Merced counties. Across the region, 149 people have succumbed to the contagion.
A look at the number of cases and deaths in each county:
- Fresno County: 2,014 cases to date, 40 deaths.
- Kings County: 1,452 cases, including 876 associated with state prisons in the county, and six deaths.
- Madera County: 141 cases, three deaths.
- Mariposa County: 16 cases, one death.
- Merced County: 320 cases, seven deaths.
- Tulare Coiunty: 2,083 cases, 92 deaths.
A wide majority of the deaths from COVID-19 in the region have been among people 65 and older, in part characterized by a large number of casualties in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities in Tulare and Fresno counties.
Recovery rate
As the death toll climbs, however, so, too, does the number of people deemed “recovered” from their bouts with COVID-19 either by testing negative for the infection or being symptom-free after a period of isolation or quarantine to keep from spreading the virus.
More than 6,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the first cases were reported in the Valley in early March. About 42%, or 2,527, have recovered. While many showed only minor symptoms, hundreds of others have been hospitalized at some point for treatment.
As of Wednesday, 130 people were being treated in Valley hospitals, including 35 seriously ill patients in intensive-case units, according to the state Department of Health Services.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 4:44 PM.
