Coronavirus updates: Tulare County adds nearly 500 cases; summer heat vs. the spread
In the first of its two updates this week, health officials in Fresno County reported four more people have died of the coronavirus. This brings the number of people in the county who have died from the virus to 104.
Tulare County also reported a coronavirus death on Tuesday, bringing the total dead in that county to 168, where it held on Wednesday.
Three-hundred and fifty people have died of the coronavirus across the six-county central San Joaquin Valley; 104 of those deaths occurred in July.
In June, 112 deaths were reported for the region.
The six counties have been reporting, on average, 252 new positive case of coronavirus each day for the past two weeks. In all, there has been more than 26,000 positive cases reported as of Wednesday, including 10,970 in Fresno County.
Tulare County added 483 new cases in its Wednesday update. It has seen 7,603 positive cases, 3,279 of which are considered active.
Maripsoa County is the last county in the region with less than 1,000 positive cases. Just 41 tests there have come back positive.
Summer heat not slowing the spread
While, there had been hope that the Valley’s hot summer weather would slow or even halt the spread of the coronavirus, the opposite seems to have happened.
The average number of new daily cases so far in July is at least double — and close to triple — the number of cases in the previous month in four of five Valley counties. Only in Kings County, where June was marked by an outbreak among inmates and personnel at state prisons, has the average number of new cases per day fallen.
Fresno County’s average number of new confirmed coronavirus infections reported each day in May was just under 40. In June, it was up to almost 108 cases per day. Through the first 20 days of July, the daily average for this month is almost 7 1/2 times higher than May, at 294 new cases per day.
Some of that rise can be explained by the increased number of people being tested. But the positivity rate – the proportion of people whose test results are coming back positive for the infection – continues to climb.
As of Tuesday, it sat at 10.6% in Fresno County.
UC Merced to start semester remotely
UC Merced announced on Tuesday plans to start its fall semester remotely, due to the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
The university had initially planned to offer a small number of in-person classes when the semester begins Aug. 26. Now, all courses will be fully remote for at least the first four weeks of the semester. If state and local health officials deem it safe, some courses may be switched to in-person classes at a later date.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 8:27 AM.