Coronavirus update: Fresno County surpasses 40,000 cases as hospitalizations go up
Fresno County surpassed more than 40,000 COVID-19 infections over the weekend as the county was placed into a new coronavirus lockdown that required hundreds of thousands of residents to stay at home and many businesses to shut their doors.
The California Department of Public Health on Sunday reported a total of 40,568 total COVID-19 cases in Fresno County since the pandemic began, up by 888 since Friday. The county tallied 460 new coronavirus cases on Sunday and an additional 428 on Saturday, while the number of deaths countywide increased to 506 Friday, up by 18.
Fresno County is reporting an average of about 302 new cases per day, increasing by 15.8% from two weeks ago. Within the county, the city of Fresno has reported the highest number of cases since the pandemic began, though Coalinga has most recently tallied the highest concentration of new cases, reporting an average of 1,061 per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.
About 24,716 Fresno County residents have recovered since the pandemic first hit in March.
Across the county, 396 residents remained hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications. Of those, about 61 patients are in the ICU. Following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a regional stay-at-home order last week, Fresno County on Sunday was among one of the two largest regions in California to be placed under more restrictive rules.
The orders, issued in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 that has surged in recent weeks, aim to prevent additional hospital shortages and require regions across the state to maintain at least 15% ICU bed capacity.
In Fresno County alone, there were only six ICU beds available out of 149 that are licensed, according to data reported Sunday, which brings ICU capacity across Fresno County well below 15%. That translates to 4% ICU capacity for a county that has more than 1 million people. The county would need to have about 23 out of 149 licensed intensive-care beds available to maintain the 15% threshold.
With the county falling below the 15% ICU capacity threshold on Saturday, some indoor business operations must now close for at least three weeks – even if they’ve been allowed to remain open under the state’s tier system.These include:
- Indoor recreational facilities, family entertainment centers and indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
- Hair salons, barber shops and personal care services such as nail salons and waxing, massage parlors, estheticians, and piercing and tattoo parlors.
- Museums, zoos and aquariums.
- Movie theaters.
- Wineries, bars, breweries and distilleries.
- Cardrooms and satellite wagering.
- “Limited services,” identified by the state as auto repair shops, car washes, landscapers, door-to-door services and sales, pet grooming, dog walking, dry cleaners and laundromats, and more.
- Live audience sports.
- Amusement parks.
Under the terms of the order, residents will also be required to stay home as much as possible except for essential trips or outdoor recreation. The order also calls for all customers and staff to continue following health protocols, such as wearing face masks and practicing physical distancing.
The stay at home mandate will last at least three weeks.
Hospitalizations across California’s central San Joaquin Valley
Across the six-county San Joaquin Valley region, hospitals have a total of 657 ICU beds, where, as of Thursday, about 254 of those beds were being occupied by confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients. Just 137 ICU beds are still available.
If all 657 licensed beds were in use and staffed, that would calculate to another 266 patients being treated in ICUs for something other than COVID-19.
The San Joaquin Valley, which includes the counties of Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne, were at a combined 14.1% ICU capacity as of Friday. By Sunday, that number had fallen to 6.6%, plummeting from nearly 20% in just two days. It currently has the lowest ICU bed capacity of any California region.
Latest COVID-19 cases in California
California has tallied a total of 1,351,199 cases statewide, up 20,475 new cases as of Sunday. The number of deaths had increased to 19,938 on Sunday, up 56 from the day before. The state has been averaging about 20,414 new cases per day over the past week, increasing by nearly 80% from two weeks ago.
The state reported a new record of 9,740 total patients hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, increasing by 87% from 14 days ago. California is now averaging about 112 deaths over the past week.
With new infections continuing to increase, more beds in intensive care units are filling up. That’s why Newsom last week announced regions with under 15% ICU bed capacity would fall into another stay-at-home order if they did not have those resources available.
Due to the new restrictions across the state, counties in Southern California, the Bay Area, and the San Joaquin Valley shut down on Sunday. By 11:59 p.m. Sunday, when the state’s new stay-at-home orders took effect, 27.7 million residents across 23 counties were under the most stringent restrictions yet.
The three remaining regions designated by the state — Northern California, Greater Sacramento, and the Bay Area — have remained above the 15% threshold.
In the past month, the number of patients in ICUs for COVID-19 in California has increased by 168%, from 814 on Nov. 4 to the current number of 2,182.
Latest coronavirus cases in the United States
Across the U.S., 173,459 new coronavirus cases and 1,111 new deaths were reported on Sunday. Over the past seven days, there has been an average of 196,827 new daily cases, up by 15% from the average two weeks prior. A total of 14,825,100 people have been infected with the deadly virus since the pandemic began, and of those, 282,313 have died.
At least 101,487 patients nationwide remain hospitalized because of the disease.