Coronavirus update: Cases surge again in Fresno. What’s the plan to slow the spread?
As of Tuesday, Fresno County reported a total of 34,593 new coronavirus cases and 463 deaths, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The case tally rose by 296 on Tuesday, while three new deaths were recorded.
The county has been averaging about 263 new cases every day over the past week and one new death per day. The seven-day case total had reached nearly 2,000 Tuesday, totaling 1,838 new cases. A total of 28,891 Fresno County residents have recovered since the pandemic began.
In Fresno County, the number of reported new cases more than doubled within a week, rising from an average of seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents to 14.6.
One hundred fifty-one patients remain hospitalized, according to state data. Of those, 35 are in the ICU.
Fresno on Monday fell back into the state’s most restrictive tier of its reopening plan, according to California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Each tier in the state’s plan represents a calculated assessment of risk for transmitting COVID-19 in the community. Fresno County had been in the less restrictive red Tier 2 for weeks, previously allowing some indoor business operations to reopen. Now, its purple tier status means those operations were forced to close.
Fresno residents are likely to notice the most significant changes in restaurants and churches. Since late September, these places resumed some indoor activities when Fresno County was promoted into red Tier 2. Then, restaurants and churches were allowed to resume indoor dining at up to 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever was fewer.
But now, under purple Tier 1, outdoor-only limitations are back in place, just as they are for gyms and fitness centers.
Despite the county falling back into the state’s most restrictive tier, some Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday said the county would rely on voluntary compliance from businesses rather than enforcing the guidelines.
Fresno County Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes both said Tuesday they support voluntary compliance from businesses and will focus on ensuring hospitals have the capacity for COVID-19 patients and relieving business-related costs, a move they claimed was supported by the lack of state data. Mendes called the data Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office used to determine tiers “foul,” adding that he hasn’t seen any information that shows 25% restaurant capacity, as allowed in the red tier, is less safe than a Costco packed full of people.
It is unclear when Fresno County could move back up into the red Tier 2, but local public health experts say it could be weeks or even a couple of months before that happens. It would have to remain in the purple tier for three weeks before it can graduate to the next stage. But to do so, it would have to meet the red-tier requirements for at least two weeks by getting the daily new-case rate back to fewer than seven per 100,000 and maintaining a testing positivity rate of 8% or less.
Kings, and Merced counties, along with 23 other California counties earlier this week, were also forced back into purple Tier 1 of the state’s color-coded system.
Across the central San Joaquin Valley, 744 new cases were reported on Tuesday, while six new deaths were reported. The total case count has now reached 79,853, while deaths have totaled 1,103 Valleywide.
California COVID-19 update
California as of Tuesday had reached 1,054,635 coronavirus infections, with an additional 10,634 reported on Tuesday. 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%. Compared to white people across the state, Latinos are 3.1 times more likely to contract the virus, while nearly three-quarters of all deaths are seniors 65 and older.
On Monday, California reported a total of 18,359 deaths, up 56 from the previous day. California has averaged about 9,076 new cases per day, a staggering 105.9% increase from two weeks prior. The daily average of new deaths remained at 41 over the past week.
Hospitalizations are also surging, with the state reporting 4,118 people hospitalized, up by 58% from two weeks ago.
Coronavirus U.S. national update
The total number of cases nationwide has now exceeded 11.4 million, while the number of deaths totals 248,400, according to an analysis by The New York Times. One thousand five hundred eighty-three new COVID-19 deaths and 159,508 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Wednesday. The number of new cases on Wednesday had increased by 79% from the tally two weeks ago. The country is averaging about 160,000 new cases a day and is reporting about 1,000 new deaths per day.
With the COVID-19 cases taking the lives of more than 1,000 Americans per day, the race to produce a vaccine has intensified. Two pharmaceutical companies — Pfizer and Moderna — last week released promising results from late-stage clinical trials, showing each of its vaccines were more than 90% effective based on early studies.
The companies determine if its vaccines work by how quickly the participants get sick. The faster they get sick, the more information can be gathered to know whether and how a vaccine can be effective, according to The New York Times. On Wednesday, Pfizer said its vaccine was now 95% effective, while Moderna on Monday said its vaccine was 94.5% effective.
On Tuesday, The Food and Drug Administration also gave the green light to the first at-home rapid coronavirus test, allowing Americans to self-administer the test at home from start to finish instead of relying on a healthcare professional to conduct the test for them.
Developed by the company Lucira Health, the test requires a prescription from a physician. The test is expected to cost about $50 and can be conducted with a simple nasal swab.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 8:24 AM.