Fresno County coronavirus new-case surge continues, surpassing another milestone
Fresno County has surpassed 35,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the first local instance of COVID-19 was identified in early March.
With 281 new cases reported Friday morning by the California Department of Public Health, a total of 35,278 Fresno County residents have tested positive for the virus during the pandemic, including people who experienced no or mild symptoms. Of those, 463 have died.
Also on Friday, the Fresno County Department of Public Health announced seven additional fatalities for which COVID-19 was listed as the cause of death since Tuesday. That brings to 470 the number of lives lost to the coronavirus in the county.
Fresno County has averaged almost 260 new cases each day over the past seven days.
The number of patients being treated in hospitals for coronavirus disease has also been on the rise for the past two weeks. As of Thursday, Fresno County hospitals contained 171 confirmed COVID-19 patients, including 23 seriously ill patients in intensive-care units. Another 29 suspected coronavirus patients were also in hospitals on Thursday, according to data from the state.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Fresno County hospitals has climbed by 66% over the past two weeks.
Fresno County returned earlier this week to purple Tier 1 of California’s color-coded Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Tier 1, denoting “widespread” risk for the virus to spread in the community based on rising rates of new cases among the population, is the most restrictive of four levels, and does not allow some key business sectors including restaurants, churches and gyms to operate indoors.
As reports surface about restaurants wanting to defy purple-tier limitations to continue serving diners indoors and churches declaring that they will keep holding worship services inside, Fresno County interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra said he’s worried about the potential for the ongoing case surge to swamp local hospitals.
“That’s giving me the most indigestion because I know what we went through,” Vohra said, referring to a peak of coronavirus hospitalizations this summer. “I know what resources we can bring to bear and what we can’t. Putting all that together, I think it would be very irresponsible to say that the hospitals are not in any danger.”
“We’re hoping for the best and preparing for the worst,” he said.
Vohra said that hospitals are not only dealing with an increase in hospitalzations for COVID-19 patients, but also admitting more patients as they do every winter for flu and other serious conditions.
“I really am very worried that if this surge doesn’t abate, if people aren’t careful and making good choices over Thanksgiving and into Christmas,” he added, “we really will exceed the capacity of our hospitals to take care of all the patients that they really need to.”
Local health officials are planning for potential shortages of hospital beds, medical staffing and resources. “And at the same time we’re doing this, every other county in the state is doing it, too,” Vohra said. “The state is already saying, ‘Plan as well as you can because there may not be extra staff or traveling staff that can come in and bail you out. …”
Around the Valley
Friday coronavirus case updates from central San Joaquin Valley counties include:
Fresno County: 281 new cases Friday, 35,278 to date; eight additional deaths, 471 to date.
Kings County: 147 new cases Friday, 9,992 to date; no additional deaths, 87 to date. More than 90 of the new cases, and 4,665 to date, are among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran, as are nine of the deaths.
Madera County: 90 new cases Friday, 5,714 to date; one additional death, 80 to date.
Mariposa County: One new case Friday, 94 to date; no additional deaths, two to date.
Merced County: 102 new cases Friday, 10,986 to date; one additional death, 176 to date.
Tulare County: 120 new cases Friday, 19,673 to date; no additional deaths, 303 to date.
Across the region, counties have reported a cumulative total of 81,737 confirmed infections since early March, including 1,119 deaths.
Valleywide, a total of 309 patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were being treated in hospitals, including 49 in intensive-care units. That’s an increase of almost 72% over the past two weeks.
Another 48 patients are in Valley hospitals with suspected cases as doctors await confirmation through testing.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Fresno County coronavirus new-case surge continues, surpassing another milestone."
