Coronavirus updates: Infection rate reaches 1% in Fresno County; Case breakdown by city

Wednesday was a record-breaker for the coronavirus in California.

The state reported 12,807 new cases, a one-day high in California. About 1 in 96 state residents have now been infected by the coronavirus. Of those, 7,870 have died as of Wednesday morning.

In the central San Joaquin Valley, 360 people have died of the coronavirus. Seven of those deaths were reported on Wednesday; four in Merced County and three in Kings County.

The region added nearly 800 new cases on Wednesday, according to health officials. That’s almost 200 cases more than the daily average for the last few weeks.

Merced and Kings counties added almost 200 new cases each on Wednesday when Tulare County reported 483 new cases. It added another 273 in an update on Thursday.

Fresno County, won’t have another report update until Friday, but according to state figures, the county had nearly 500 new cases on Wednesday.

In total there have been 27,453 positive cases of coronavirus reported in the six counties. Of those, 14,912 are considered active and 11,739 have had the virus and recovered.

COVID-19 infection rate at 1% in Fresno County

One percent of the population in Fresno County has tested positive for COVID-19; of those infected, 1% have died.

While the percentages may seem small, they translate to 11,412 cases and 104 deaths in a county with roughly 1 million people.

And the number of positive cases is likely higher, due to a shortage in testing and many other factors, Fresno County’s Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra said in a Zoom media briefing on Wednesday.

“That 1% is a significant milestone. And it’s not showing any signs of letting up, which is giving us great concern.”

The county’s hospital intensive care unit availability is hovering below the 20% mark, and the high number of coronavirus patients taking up beds means hospitals have limited space to treat patients with other ailments.

County officials are standing at the ready to open the field hospital at the Fresno Convention Center, which Dan Lynch, the county’s EMS director called “inevitable.”

Free COVID-19 testing in Fresno

United Health Centers, Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria and the Sikh Institute of Fresno have partnered to provide free coronavirus testing on Friday.

The testing will be done drive-up only, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Sikh Institute, 4827 N. Parkway Drive. Appointments can be scheduled online at unitedhealthcenters.org or by phone at 800-492-4227.

Soria will also provide free facemasks on a first-come first-served basis.

Smaller Valley towns feeling the impact of rising cases

While Fresno and other larger Valley cities are seeing the bulk of the confirmed coronavirus cases that are part of the global COVID-19 pandemic, smaller Valley towns are also feeling the impact as case counts rise.

As of Tuesday, the Fresno County Department of Public Health reported that Fresno, the fifth largest city in California at about 530,000 people, has an estimated 6,061 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since early March. That’s a little more than 1.1% of the population.

Of towns in the Valley with more than 100 coronavirus cases to date, the unincorporated community of Caruthers has the distinction of the highest proportion of infected population, at almost 4.7% of less than 2,780 people. A pair of small Tulare County communities — Pixley and Orosi — fall right behind, both at just under 4.3% of their total population.

A list of the 10 Valley cities with the most cases can be seen here.

Clovis won’t seek waiver to reopen schools

Clovis Unified won’t request a state waiver to reopen in the fall, school district officials confirmed on Wednesday.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered remote learning for schools in counties on the state’s coronavirus watch list, districts can submit a request to exempt elementary schools from being closed, according to a statement from the Santa Clara Office of Education.

Officials at Fresno Unified and Central Unified also said they would not be applying for a waiver.

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 8:34 AM.