Coronavirus update: Here’s how many COVID-19 cases have been reported locally since March
According to figures provided by county health departments since March, coronavirus cases in the six-county region of the central San Joaquin Valley reached 74,941 as of Sunday.
Since Friday, Fresno County, which leads the area in cases, reported 374 new infections. Valleywide, there have been 1,080 deaths since the first patient with COVID-19 died in early spring.
California is approaching 1 million positive COVID-19 cases. The state has recorded 17,939 deaths. As of Sunday, the state had not reported new cases, but on Saturday health officials reported a one-day caseload of 5,863.
The 14-day positivity rate in California has fallen to 3.3 percent, with only a slight increase from two weeks ago. Cases are spiking in some parts of the state.
Hospitalized patients in the state also decreased by double digits during the weekend.
Locally, counties are updated on their reopening state based on infection rates. Most of the counties in California are in either red or purple tiers, the two most restrictive of the four tiers.
In Fresno County, it means theaters, theme parks, concert venues and bars with no meals are closed. But businesses like restaurants, hair salons, and gyms are allowed to reopen only at a certain capacity.
The leading causes of COVID-19 infection in Fresno County remain close-contact and community spread, officials say. Those who have been infected the most are between the ages of 20-39. Ten thousand of the county’s more than 32,000 cases remain active.
Even though cases have not peaked like previous months, health officials across the state have remained watchful as the state approaches winter and the seasonal flu becomes more common.
California and local health officials have warned during the fall that residents should do their best to avoid going into a third wave of infection like those seen in other parts of the county.
