Coronavirus update for Nov. 1: Fresno, Valley report fewer COVID-19 deaths in October
The novel coronavirus and the respiratory disease it causes were blamed for 53 deaths in Fresno County and 105 across the central San Joaquin Valley in October – the lowest monthly death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region since early summer.
Since the Valley’s first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified in Fresno and Madera counties in early March, almost 72,800 people have contracted the virus at some point, whether or not they experienced symptoms.
Of those infected, 1,053 people died from the coronavirus across Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties.
The latest update for Fresno County from the California Department of Public Health on Sunday indicated that 31,558 residents have been infected with COVID-19, including 443 deaths.
Fatalities from the coronavirus, both in Fresno and across the Valley, have declined each of the past two months since hitting a spike in August, the deadliest month of the pandemic thus far.
There were 152 deaths in Fresno County in August. That fell to 100 in September and 53 in October. Last month’s death toll was the lowest in Fresno County since June, when 38 deaths were attributed to COVID-19.
Across the Valley, the 105 deaths in October were the fewest since May and down from a peak of 315 in August.
The latest updates
Weekend updates of case counts from Valley counties as of Sunday are:
Fresno County: 88 new cases Saturday, 149 on Sunday, 31,558 to date; no additional deaths, 443 to date. Fresno County only provides updates on deaths on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Kings County: 53 new cases Saturday, 28 on Sunday, 8,539 to date; no additional deaths, 83 to date. Kings County’s totals include 3,824 cases and eight deaths among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Mariposa County: No new cases Saturday or Sunday, 81 to date; no additional deaths, two to date.
Madera, Merced and Tulare counties do not provide updates on weekends. As of Friday, however, Madera County reported 5,094 cases and 76 fatalities to date.
In Merced County, 9,674 people have been infected to date, including 156 deaths.
Tulare County has reported 17,852 total cases before this weekend, including 293 fatalities.
This story was originally published November 1, 2020 at 11:33 AM.
