Coronavirus updates: COVID in prisons; reporting issues linger; California at 10,000 dead
The United States officially tallied more than 5 million positive cases of the coronavirus over the weekend, as California became one of three states to have seen more than 10,000 people die from the disease.
This, as the state continues to experience issues with the its electronic lab reporting system, which has led to an underreporting of new positive cases for at least the last week. The technical glitch hasn’t affected fatality-counts or hospitalizations, according to health officials.
Case counts, deaths across the Valley
Fresno County reported just over 1,000 cases over the weekend, according to state numbers. This follows the trend. The county has been reporting 250 or more new cases daily since mid-July, with a single exception on Aug. 3, when there were just 186 cases.
The six-county central San Joaquin Valley — Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties — has been adding an average of 724 new cases each day as of Saturday. This is down from a high average of than 800 new daily cases last week.
The region will likely reach 40,000 positive cases on Monday, with Tulare County adding 387 new cases since its Friday update.
So far, 528 people have died of related illness across the six counties.
That includes 14 deaths reported in Fresno County on Friday, when Madera and Merced counties reported a combined five deaths. Tulare County continues to lead the region in the number of deaths (196). Fresno County follows with 171 reported coronavirus deaths. Kings, Madera and Merced counties have reported deaths in the double digits. Mariposa County has reported just two deaths from the virus.
Have you gone back to work after having the coronavrius?
When is it safe to go back to work after testing positive for the coronavirus? There seems to be conflicting orders coming from county health departments, workplaces and employers and other medical experts.
The Fresno Bee is looking to sift the confusion and is looking for workers willing to share their stories. You can help by taking an online survey. You will not quote directly unless contacted and with explicit consent, though general information collected in this form may be published in a future story.
How many prison staff inmates have died in the Fresno region?
More than 1,950 prison staff within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Of those, 916 have recovered and returned to work. But eight prison staffers have died from the disease, including two at prisons in Madera County.
Within the whole central and southern San Joaquin Valley, nine state prisons in Madera, Fresno, Kings and Kern counties have seen a total of about 1,900 confirmed infections among their inmates and almost 500 cases among their staff as of Friday. The area’s largest outbreak has been seen at Avenal State Prison, where 1,484 of the male inmates have tested positive. Of those, five have died and 1,039 have recovered. Among staff at the prison there have been 101 infections; 46 have returned to work.
Metallica drive-in concert screens in Madera
Metallica announced its first show of 2020 (and its first show in almost a year) will screen Aug. 29 at Madera 2 Drive-in Theater, as part of Encore Drive-In Nights, the concert series that has so-far featured performances from Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton. Tickets for the concert are $115 and for sale online noon Friday.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 8:27 AM.