Coronavirus update: Some holiday events in Fresno canceling ahead of new restrictions
The California Department of Public Health reported 328 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to more than 34,000 in Fresno County as it returns to the most restrictive tier of California’s economic reopening plan.
County officials on Monday reported a total of 460 deaths, no change from the week before. The total case count has reached 34,297. The county was scheduled to provide an update on the number of deaths Tuesday.
Fresno County is now categorized in the most restrictive purple Tier 1 of the state’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which means there is “widespread” risk of spreading COVID-19 in the community. Before Tuesday, the county had been in red Tier 2, representing “substantial” risk.
Falling back into the more restrictive tier means that restaurants, churches, gyms and other business operations that had been allowed to reopen indoors with limited capacity return to outdoor-only operations. The restrictions began on Tuesday.
Two factors determine where a county stands in the tier system: the one-week average rate of new cases each day per 100,000 residents and the positivity rate of people tested for COVID-19 within a week.
Last week, the county surpassed the threshold of seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents needed to stay out of the purple tier. Counties are demoted when they miss the mark for two consecutive weeks. Monday’s tier assignments are based on information for the week ending Nov. 10, which showed Fresno County’s rate of new cases per day tallied at 13.9 per 100,000 residents – well above the threshold needed to remain in red Tier 2. In last week’s tier announcement, the rate in Fresno County was 8.3 cases per 100,000 residents.
As California deals with a surge in new daily cases, the tier assignments could now happen on any day of the week and could also happen more than once a week.
Across the central San Joaquin Valley, Merced and Kings counties also were demoted into the more restrictive tier on Monday. Tulare and Madera counties had already been in the purple tier since the color-coded system was launched in late August. Only Mariposa County is outside of the purple tier, remaining in the least restrictive yellow Tier 4. where the risk of spreading the virus is “minimal.”
Valleywide, a total of 848 new cases were reported since Monday, bringing the case count to 79,109.
River Park event postponed
Event organizers on Monday announced that the Holiday Drive-In at River Park would be postponed until further notice, out of “great respect for public health during the ongoing pandemic.” The event is a holiday-themed outdoor theater at the River Park Shopping Center to play Christmas movies.
The holiday drive-in, which was set up by converting the top of the shopping mall’s parking lot into an outdoor movie theater, was initially scheduled to launch on Nov. 18. Event organizers, in a statement, said they hope to make it a possibility in the weeks to come.
Masks required in Caliifornia
California as of Tuesday had reached 1,029,235 coronavirus infections, with an additional 9,890 reported since Monday. 16.5 new COVID-19 cases are reported per day per 100,000 residents, while the rate of the number of people testing positive for the virus has jumped to 5.2%.
As the virus continues to spread, state officials say the number of cases is likely more than reported. On Monday, California reported a total of 18,263 deaths, up by 10 from the day before. The state’s weekly case rate is averaging about 8,198 per day, while fatalities total to about 41 daily deaths.
Of California’s 58 counties, 41 are in the most restrictive tier of its Blueprint for a Safer Economy, totaling about 94% of the state’s population. In a statement, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state is “pulling an emergency brake” to halt the spread of the virus, following an “unprecedented surge” of new cases. In addition to the demotions, the state implemented a mandatory mask requirement, which mandates that masks are now required whenever a person leaves their house, with very few exceptions, state officials said.
US deaths near quarter-million mark
The total number of cases nationwide has now exceeded 11.2 million, while the number of deaths totals 246,879, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Seven hundred ninety-six new COVID-19 deaths and 166,581 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Monday. The country is averaging 150,000 new cases a day and is likely to reach 250,000 total deaths by the end of the week.
Daily new cases are rapidly rising in nearly half of the country, forcing governors in at least 48 states to take new steps to stop the spread. In the past week, some of the hardest-hit states, including Utah, West Virginia, and North Dakota, issued mandatory mask-wearing mandates. A stay-at-home order went into effect in Chicago, while Philadelphia announced stricter restrictions on Friday, banning indoor gatherings and closing indoor operations at restaurants, The New York Times reports.
President-elect Joseph Biden said on Monday “more people may die” from COVID-19 if President Donald Trump did not agree to facilitate planning for widely distributing a vaccine once it becomes available. Biden said Trump’s unwillingness to admit defeat in the Nov. 3 election is causing a massive strain on his incoming administration during the national crisis.
“If we have to wait until Jan. 20 to start that planning, it puts us behind, over a month and a half,” Biden said during a news conference. “It’s important that it be done, that there be coordination now.”
Public health experts and medical professionals aim to provide enough coronavirus vaccinations to all 330 million Americans who want it by the end of 2021.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 8:25 AM.