Coronavirus update: Fresno County nearing 35,000 cases, 500 deaths amid national surge
The California Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported Fresno County added 172 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total number of infections since the pandemic began to 34,765.
The death toll is nearing 500 across Fresno County, sitting at 463. County officials will provide an update on the number of deaths Friday.
Wednesday was the third consecutive day this week with more than 100 new cases reported, following 296 new COVID-19 cases reported on Tuesday and more than 300 on Monday. In the past week, the county has been averaging about 287 new cases per day, a 164.5% increase from two weeks ago.
Fresno County’s 14-day test positivity average was 8.3% on Wednesday, according to the state’s data, while the daily case rate remained at 14.6 per day per 100,000 people.
The number of hospitalized patients in Fresno County increased by 12 on Wednesday, resulting in a total of 184 hospitalizations, according to the state’s data. Fifteen of those were in the ICU. There have been 21,891 recoveries countywide.
Fresno County this week was demoted back to the most restrictive tier under California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy following a large surge in cases. The county had been in the state’s red Tier 2 before returning to the purple Tier 1 on Monday.
Under the purple Tier 1, restaurants cannot operate indoors and must serve people outdoors or through delivery and takeout. Other types of businesses have also been forced to close or face stricter restrictions.
Rapid COVID-19 testing in central San Joaquin Valley
Health officials from Kaweah Delta Medical Center, a hospital based in Visalia, said that it has increased the number of locations where it is offering rapid testing ahead of the holidays.
The hospital admitted 43 new COVID-19 patients on Monday and the number had dropped slightly to 37 patients on Wednesday. Despite the number of patients decreasing in recent days, the medical center’s COVID-19 numbers have nearly doubled in recent weeks. Also on Monday, the hospital reported its first case of a person testing positive for the flu and COVID-19.
The hospital offers rapid COVID-19 testing for people whether or not they have symptoms at a number of locations. Individuals should schedule an appointment by calling the phone number from the testing site. These are the locations the center is offering testing at:
· Exeter Health Clinic, 1014 San Juan Ave., Exeter
Open Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can call 559-624-4110 to schedule an appointment.
· Lindsay Health Clinic, 839 Rd 214, Lindsay
Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The clinic will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m starting Dec. 5.
Residents can call 559-624-4110 to schdeule an appointment.
· Dinuba Health Clinic, 355 Monte Vista Drive, Dinuba
Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can call 559-624-4110 to schedule an appointment.
· Urgent Care-Demaree, 3600 W. Flagstaff Ave., Visalia
Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can call 559-624-6800 or schedule an appointment at www.kaweahdelta.org.
· Urgent Care-Court, 1633 S. Court St., Visalia
Open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Residents can call 559-624-6090 or schedule an appointment at www.kaweahdelta.org.
Rapid COVID-19 Testing is also Available at:
· Visalia Medical Clinic QuickCare, 5400 W. Hillsdale Ave., Visalia
Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents can call 559-738-7555 to make an appointment.
· Sequoia Prompt Care, 1110 S. Ben Maddox Way, Ste. B, in Visalia.
Open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents can call 559-624-4800 to schedule an appointment. The center does not accept all insurance plans. Residents would need to contact the hospital to verify that their insurance is accepted beforehand.
More than 200,000 masks donated to farmworkers in Fresno, Tulare counties
Amid a surging pandemic that has significantly affected California’s essential workers, Fresno County on Thursday reported receiving 200,000 donated masks to distribute to farmworkers across the county.
Donated from Bank of America, the masks given to Fresno County are part of a $1 million mask donation effort to curb the spread of the virus among the agricultural labor force throughout the state.
The recent donation to the Valley is the latest this week, following a previously donated 174,000 masks and 800 eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer given to to six Fresno and Tulare County nonprofits, including 50,000 to the Central Valley Farmworker Foundation, 46,000 to the Healthy Harvest program, and 16,000 to the Latino Mayor’s Coalition.
The bank this year has also provided more than $570,000 in COVID-19 relief grants to nonprofits in the two counties.
In addition to the counties in the Valley, masks have also been distributed to agricultural workers in Imperial, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
California COVID-19 update, national numbers
Across California, a total of 11,616 new COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday, totaling 1,066,251 infections since the pandemic began in March. There were an additional 109 deaths statewide on Thursday.
The rate of people testing positive for the virus has remained at 5.2% this past week. California is now averaging 10,064 daily cases across the state, a 121.1% increase from 14 days ago.
On Thursday, California reported a total of 18,467 deaths. The daily average of new deaths increased to about 51.7 over the past week.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise, with the state reporting 4,309 people hospitalized as of Thursday, where about 2,994 of them are in the ICU, totaling to about 38%.
The total number of cases nationwide has now exceeded 11.6 million, while the number of deaths totals 250,409, according to an analysis by The New York Times. A total of 1,923 new COVID-19 deaths and 172,391 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Thursday The number of new cases on Thursday had increased 77% 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.
A total of 79,410 patients are currently hospitalized nationwide.
Public health experts expect the country to soon be tallying at least 2,000 deaths a day, potentially more, surpassing totals from when the virus peaked in spring. They predict an additional 100,000 to 200,000 more American deaths in the next couple of months.
President-elect Joseph Biden on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump to coordinate on a pandemic strategy, according to The New York Times. On Wednesday, Biden implored Trump officials to hand over federal resources to help him plan a pandemic response, comparing the battle against the virus to “going to war.”
Among a virtual panel of healthcare workers and public health experts, Biden on Wednesday said once he’s elected, he plans on mandating the use of masks, testing, social distancing, and contact tracing through the Defense Authorization Act as an emergency measure.
“I’ll make mistakes,” he said. “But I promise you I’ll acknowledge them when I make them, as well as I’ll take responsibility.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 8:20 AM.