Coronavirus update, Nov. 4: Fresno-area death toll climbs
The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 125 new COVID-19 cases in Fresno County, bringing the county total to 31,738 infections since the pandemic began.
Four new deaths were reported in Fresno County on Tuesday, which brings the total number to 447. One hundred six people remained hospitalized, while a total of 20,816 people have recovered.
About 369,632 people have taken a coronavirus test in the county. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases remains at 110, while the 14-day rolling average of new cases shows the county sits at 113.
Currently, the county’s new cases stand at 6.6 per day per 100,000, occasionally trickling above a threshold of seven per day. The county’s positivity rate remains at 5%, according to California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The county needs to maintain a daily new case rate under seven per 100,000 and a positivity rate under 8% to keep its red tier status.
Nearly 74,000 people have contracted the virus across the central San Joaquin Valley, and 1,064 people have died.
A total of 411 new coronavirus cases across Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare counties were reported as of Tuesday, according to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Testing sites
Starting Nov. 4, the OptumServe community testing sites in Tulare County will change its hours. All three locations in Dinuba, Porterville, and Tulare will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Testing is free, and local county health officials are urging residents to make appointments, though walk-ins are also accepted.
Appointments for testing can be made by phone at 888-634-1123 and online at lhi.care/covidtesting.
Tulare County Fairgrounds, Building One is located at the corner of Martin Luther King Avenue and K Street in Tulare.
Dinuba Veterans Memorial Building is located at 249 S. Alta Ave. in Dinuba.
Porterville Veterans Memorial Building is located at 1900 W. Olive Ave. in Porterville.
State, national updates
California reached 17,686 deaths statewide, reporting an additional 14 new deaths as of Tuesday, according to state data. Nearly a million people have contracted the virus, totaling 934,672 cases. About 4,044 new cases were recorded on Tuesday. A 14-day rolling average shows California has recorded around 4,328 daily new cases, while the positivity rate remains at 3.2%. A total of 19,074,921 tests statewide have been conducted since the pandemic first hit.
Statewide, 3,270 patients were hospitalized, and 840 were in intensive care units.
As of Tuesday, nearly 230,000 people across the country have died from contracting COVID-19., while more than 9.2 million people have tested positive since the pandemic began. Millions of Americans remain unemployed as a result of the economic fallout from the virus. As of Tuesday, 92,660 new COVID-19 cases and 1,130 new deaths were reported nationwide, according to a New York Times analysis.
The new case numbers from Tuesday were among one of the highest totals recorded nationwide since the pandemic began as the virus ravages parts of the Northeastern U.S. Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania set single-day case record highs on Tuesday, while 22 states have recorded more cases in the past week than in any other seven day period.
Hundreds of millions of Americans across the nation on Tuesday cast their ballots in the highly anticipated presidential election, where the pandemic was both a “top concern” and “threat” as voters headed to the polls, The New York Times reports. Voters most concerned about containing the spread of the virus were likely to favor former Vice President Joseph Biden, while voters who worried about rebuilding the economy were likely to support President Donald Trump.
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 9:35 AM.