Coronavirus update: How Fresno can avoid more closures, restrictions as cases spike
The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 136 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Fresno County, bringing the county’s total to 32,755.
The city of Fresno has accounted for the most coronavirus infections, with 18,587 cases. In the past week, Fresno County reported a whopping 1,045 new cases, which averages to a seven-day case rate of about 145 per 100,000 residents.
County officials on Tuesday reported two new deaths, which brings the total to 456 since the pandemic began.
A total of 21,289 people have recovered, while 112 remain hospitalized, up three from the day before. Of those hospitalized, 30 are in the ICU as of Tuesday.
State officials on Tuesday provided an update on Fresno County’s tier status, reporting the county had jumped two points to a daily new-case rate of 8.3 per day over the seven-day period ending Oct. 31, up from a case rate of 6.3 per 100,000 residents. The new testing positivity rate was reported at 5.5%, slightly above the county’s former positivity rate of 5.1%, according to California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Though the county as of Tuesday remained in the red tier 2 stage, it faces a potential return to purple-tier restrictions if it remains above the 7.0-per-100,000 threshold when the state issues its next update on Nov. 17. If it falls back, certain business operations would be forced to close. Restaurants could be limited to outdoor dining, take-out, or delivery; churches could not hold services indoors, and gyms would be limited to outdoor operations.
Besides Fresno County, Kings, and Merced counties also face losing their red tier 2 status as daily new case numbers have shot up in recent weeks. As of Tuesday, the new-case rate in Kings County increased from last week’s adjusted daily estimate of 5.7 per 100,000 residents to 8.4. Merced County’s rate increased even more, to nearly 13 new cases per day per 100,000, up from 5.2 last week.
Madera and Tulare counties have remained in the most restrictive purple tier 1 since late August, while neighboring Mariposa County, which has been in the least restrictive yellow tier 4 for weeks, could potentially fall back into the former orange Tier 3 stage. Mariposa’s new case rate as of Tuesday ticked up to 1.6 per 100,000 residents, a level at which the state could knock the county back down if it remains above 1.0 next week.
Among the infected, The Bee on Tuesday reported Fresno Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer had tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a dinner with Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau on election night.
Brandau announced late last week he tested positive for coronavirus.
Valleywide, 432 new cases were recorded Tuesday. There have been 75,652 COVID-19 cases across the central San Joaquin Valley since the virus first hit and a total of 1,082 total deaths.
State, national updates
California for weeks has seen an upward trend in new cases, nearly reaching 1 million statewide. On Tuesday, state officials reported a total of 990,973 confirmed cases and 18,074 deaths. A total of 8,307 new cases were recorded Tuesday, shooting above this past week’s numbers where more than 7,000 cases were reported in a consecutive three day period. Seventy-one new deaths were reported Tuesday, averaging a weekly case rate of about 45 per day. Nearly three-quarters of all deaths were seniors 65 and older.
As cases have been surging across the state, health officials on Tuesday demoted 11 counties to more restrictive tiers within California’s economic reopening plan. This means certain indoor business operations such as restaurants, gyms, and churches, will be forced to close.
Spikes in new infections caused Amador, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Modoc, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, and Trinity counties to move into stricter tiers. Sacramento, San Diego, and Stanislaus moved to the most-restrictive purple tier, while Amador, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Placer, and Santa Cruz counties went from the orange tier to the red tier. Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity exited the least-restrictive yellow tier.
Reaching a new record high, COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday skyrocketed to 61,964, while the new daily case rate exceeded 139,000 for the first time. The number of hospitalizations has more than doubled in just two months since early September, while the peak has surpassed totals reached early on in the pandemic when 59,940 hospitalized patients were recorded in April, according to The New York Times.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. added 139,855 new COVID-19 infections and 1,448 new deaths, according to an analysis by The New York Times. There has been an average of 123,315 cases per day over the past week, up 69% from the average two weeks ago. On Tuesday, 10.3 million cases and 240,241 total deaths were reported nationwide since the pandemic began.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued new guidelines on mask-wearing, reporting that using masks protect wearers, moving a step beyond its initial declaration that masks only protect others, The New York Times reports.
Previously, the health agency had said masks help prevent people infected with COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others. Now, several new studies show masks benefit the people wearing them too. In the report’s findings, the CDC also said implementing universal mask-wearing guidelines could prevent future lockdowns.