Fresno-area counties among hardest hit by COVID-19 cases, deaths. What the rates show
Counties in the central San Joaquin Valley have some of the highest rates of COVID-19 infections in the state since the coronavirus pandemic appeared earlier this year.
The results indicate that as California experiences a renewed surge of new cases in recent weeks, the virus is continuing to spread rapidly not just in highly populated urban centers, but also in more rural areas of the state.
In Kings County the infection rate – measured as cases per 100,000 residents – is the second highest among California’s 58 counties, behind only Imperial County. With more than 11,400 people who have tested positive for the virus since March, Kings County’s infection rate has climbed to 7,308 per 100,000 residents.
Kings County’s figures, however, are skewed because more than 5,600 of the total cases reported are among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran. If those institutionalized infections are subtracted, it takes the rate down to about 3,723 per 100,000 people.
Neighboring Tulare County has experienced more than 21,000 cases, which translates to an infection rate of almost 4,496 cases per 100,000 residents – fourth highest among counties in the state.
Also among California counties with the 10 highest infection rates are Merced and Madera counties. In Merced County, a total of 12,281 cases have been recorded over the past nine months, or almost 4,273 per 100,000 people, the sixth highest in the state. Madera County is eighth with a rate of 3,964 cases per 100,000 residents based on a total case count of 6,346.
Fresno County falls just outside the Top 10 counties, at No. 11 as of Wednesday. With a total of more than 39,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March, Fresno County’s cumulative infection rate is almost 3,780 per 100,000 residents.
Across California, almost 1.3 million cases of coronavirus have happened since February, for a statewide infection rate of 3,053 per 100,000 people. More than 19,000 residents statewide have lost their lives to the virus, equal to a rate of about 48 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Where the virus is deadliest
Several Valley counties are also among those with the highest rates of mortality from COVID-19 to date in the pandemic.
Imperial, Inyo, Stanislaus, Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties have the five highest death rates, ranging from about 65 per 100,000 residents in San Joaquin County to more than 185 deaths per 100,000 people in Imperial County.
Tulare, Merced, Kings and Madera counties, along with Riverside County in southern California, round out the ten deadliest counties for the virus as a rate per 100,000 residents:
- Tulare County, which has reported 314 fatalities to date from the virus, ranks sixth with a rate of 64.8 deaths per 100,000 residents.
- Merced County, with 182 deaths total, ranks seventh with a rate of 63.3 deaths per 100,000 residents.
- Kings County, with 89 deaths to date, ranks ninth with 56.9 deaths per 100,000 residents.
- Madera County, which 86 total deaths, ranks 10th with 53.7 deaths per 100,000, residents.
While Fresno County has the highest total number of fatalities attributed to COVID-19 in the region at 481, those deaths are distributed across a much larger population, working out to a rate of 46.6 deaths per 100,000 people, 16th among the state’s 58 counties.
Mariposa County is one of only 10 counties with three or fewer deaths reported since the start of the pandemic. With its small population of fewer than 18,000 people, the three deaths there amount to a rate of almost 17 deaths per 100,000 people.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 8:03 AM.
