32,000 cases and rising: Fresno County’s coronavirus infections climb, death toll mounts
More than 100 new coronavirus infections were reported Friday in Fresno County, and seven additional deaths were also blamed on COVID-19 by county medical officials.
Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, said the total number of COVID-19 infections has surpassed 32,000 since the first local cases of the virus were confirmed in early March. The new deaths reported by Vohra on Friday — the first update since Tuesday — brings the total number of lives lost over the past eight months to 454 in the county.
While the U.S. has been hitting new records of more than 100,000 cases per day this week, the pace of new cases in Fresno County over the past few weeks has averaged about 113 per day — about one-quarter of the rate during a peak average of about 400 cases per day in late August.
Valleywide, 337 new cases were reported Friday across Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare counties, bringing the region to a total of almost 74,500 people who have contracted the virus at some point since early March, whether or not they experienced any symptoms. Of those infected, 1,079 people have died. Ten of those deaths were reported on Friday.
Almost 210 patients were being treated in hospitals across the six-county region for either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections as of Thursday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Around the Valley
Friday’s coronavirus updates from counties across the Valley include:
Fresno County: 104 new cases Friday, 32,056 to date; seven additional deaths since Tuesday, 454 to date.
Kings County: 33 new cases Friday, 8,778 to date; two additional deaths Friday, 86 to date. Kings County’s totals include almost 4,000 infections and nine fatalities among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 30 new cases Friday, 5,249 to date; no additional deaths, 76 to date.
Mariposa County: No new cases Friday, 81 to date; no additional deaths, two to date.
Merced County: 66 new cases Friday, 9,982 to date; one additional death, 164 to date.
Tulare County: 104 new cases Friday, 18,312 to date; no additional deaths, 297 to date.
