Fresno County over 7,000 coronavirus cases. Death toll spikes in region
Fresno County passed 7,000 positive cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday after health officials reported 357 new cases and three new deaths.
The county has seen 84 fatal cases of the 7,281 positive cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the region in March.
Of the cases, 1,529 patients have recovered and 426 have been hospitalized.
There were 15 deaths reported Wednesday for the six-county region of Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Madera, Kings and Mariposa.
The situation in Fresno County and much of the central San Joaquin Valley has become more dire in recent weeks as officials say too many people have begun to gather, not wearing masks and not social distancing.
For the first time, the Clovis City Council got behind the message to wear masks on Wednesday. Leaders had been reluctant to support the message before and were slower to close down any businesses than other nearby municipalities, like Fresno.
The Clovis leaders appeared on Facebook, socially distant and wearing masks. “If putting on a mask means our community can begin ‘getting back to normal’ sooner — we’ll wear the mask!” the message said.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County added nine deaths to total 148 since the pandemic reached the region. The county on Wednesday also reached 5,298 cases, which is 123 more than the previous day.
Merced County reported a new death on Wednesday, bringing the total to a dozen. Another 79 cases reported Wednesday brought the total positive cases to 1,702.
Madera County tallied eight deaths through Wednesday, which is one more than the previous day. The county added 73 cases, which now totals 857 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Mariposa County health officials said Wednesday there were no changes to the 31 cases and single death to date.
Kings County reported 38 more cases and one new death. That’s a total of 2,823 cases and 38 deaths.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
