Fresno County reports 5 new deaths, 77 cases of COVID-19. Focus moves to schools
Fresno County reported five new fatal cases of the coronavirus on Friday, as well as 77 new positive tests.
There have been 29,727 cases and 429 deaths related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March, according to Fresno County health officials.
Of the patients, 19,612 have recovered.
The county managed this week to stay within the red tier in the state’s color-coded COVID-19 plan despite the appearance it could have backslid.
Fresno County Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra said residents look to be making good decisions when it comes to safety protocols, but said people should not let up so the county can move from the red tier to the less-restrictive orange tier.
“I think that we are moving in the right direction,” he said Friday. “And, that’s thanks to everyone choosing to wear masks, staying home if they feel sick, keeping their distance and practicing all of the other safety messages.”
Vohra said the county is working closely with schools to make sure they open without becoming super spreaders of the virus.
Health officials are meeting with school officials, according to David Luchini, deputy director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
“We are trying to be very safe. We do not want to see outbreaks in schools,” Luchini said. “First, (because of) the health of the staff and the students and then, that’s anther way to send us back to purple.”
California deaths
Though coronavirus activity in California has compared favorably to other parts of the U.S. for weeks, the state’s death toll from the virus continues to climb and is on track to reach 17,000 within the next week.
The official count, as of a Friday morning update from the state health department was 16,830 California residents dead from COVID-19 over the course of the seven-month pandemic.
The state is averaging 60 daily deaths during the past two weeks. That rate has declined steadily from a peak of 142 a day in mid-August, correlating with a lag time of a few weeks behind statewide drops in all other COVID-19 metrics.
With its population of about 40 million people, California’s reported deaths and infections per 100,000 residents are lower than those of about half the states in the nation, Johns Hopkins data show.
Around the Valley
Tulare County reported 48 new cases as well as a newly fatal case, which moved the totals to 17,120 cases and 275 deaths since the pandemic started.
Merced County added 12 cases and no new deaths on Friday, which brings the totals to 9,314 and 152, respectively.
Kings County tallied 11 new cases to reach 8,126 since the pandemic began, but there was no change to the 83 deaths, according to officials.
Madera County added 14 cases to bring the total case load to 4,836. No new deaths changed the total of 73, officials said in the Friday update.
Mariposa County has reported 77 cases and two deaths.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
