Fresno County adds 357 new COVID-19 cases. How full are Fresno hospital beds?
Fresno County added 357 positive cases to its running total of coronavirus patients, which has now reached 25,542, according to state numbers from Wednesday.
The state does not report on new deaths daily, leaving that to Fresno County to report on its Tuesday and Friday updates. The total number of deaths attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic reached 290 on Tuesday.
A dozen fewer people were hospitalized in Fresno County on Wednesday. Currently in a bed are 172 confirmed positive patients, according to county figures, which is down from the peak of 250 on July 31.
More than 12,500 people have recovered from the infection.
Statewide, COVID-19 has infected more than 712,000 people and killed at least 13,163 residents, according to Wednesday’s data update from the California Department of Public Health. That includes 145 new deaths added in an update the same day.
But hospitalization and intensive care unit figures are down significantly from late July; the percentage of tests returning positive has declined gradually in the past few weeks; and Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s respective increases of about 3,700 and 4,250 new lab-confirmed cases were two of the smallest daily increases since mid-June.
Bars and entertainment still closed
California’s new color-coded system places counties into four tiers based primarily on their recent rates of new infections: purple is “widespread,” red is “substantial,” orange is “moderate” and yellow is “minimal.”
Five of the six counties in the central San Joaquin Valley are purple. Mariposa County is considered orange.
Dine-in restaurants, movie theaters, museums, zoos and card rooms can all open indoors with varying capacity requirements in red, orange or yellow counties, according to the state’s COVID-19 website.
Bars, which had been closed statewide both indoor and outdoor since early July, must stay closed in purple and red counties. But bars, breweries and distilleries can open on an outdoor-only basis in orange counties, and can resume business indoors with a 50% capacity limit in yellow counties.
Other Central California counties
Tulare County reported six deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total related to COVID-19 to 240. Another 137 positive cases makes that total 14,442.
Merced County tallied 41 new cases, which brings the total to 3,876. A single new death pushed the total to 119.
Madera County reached 3,876 cases after adding 40 on Wednesday. No deaths were added to its total of 55.
Mariposa County did not report any changes Wednesday to its 73 cases and two deaths.
Kings County reported a new death and 23 cases, which is a total of 75 and 6,385, respectively.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:13 PM.
