Coronavirus update: Fresno County adds more than 600 new coronavirus cases, state reports
New cases of coronavirus infections continued to climb steeply Sunday in the Fresno area.
Fresno County added 685 new cases of COVID-19, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Kings County reported 150 new cases among the general population Sunday, plus an additional eight cases from correctional facilities, including Avenal and Corcoran prisons and the county’s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility.
Madera, Merced and Tulare counties do not update case counts on the weekend and Mariposa County had not shared any new cases as of midday Sunday.
The new infections in Fresno County come on the heels of the county’s deadliest week since the pandemic began, with 36 people dying last week. Public health officials announced 28 of those deaths Friday. The county reports deaths on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Statewide, 30,334 new cases were reported Sunday, for a total of 1.5 million people infected. More than 20,600 people have died in California since the pandemic started.
Stay-at-home order, ICU beds in spotlight
San Joaquin Valley counties remain under a regional stay-at-home order that includes Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Calaveras, Kern, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties.
In the region, the availability of intensive-care beds increased to 1.5% as of Sunday, according to state Public Health, still a dangerously low number but a slight improvement after being listed at 0% for much of the weekend.
Regions in the state are placed under stay-at-home orders, with tough restrictions on business, for at least three weeks when the number of available beds dips below 15% of capacity.
Infections and deaths within skilled nursing facilities in the Valley have continued to grow recently. The majority of nursing homes reported new cases over the past couple of weeks, including two large outbreaks in Fresno, accounting for around 300 new cases.
In some good news, California is scheduled to get its first doses of the coronavirus vaccine by early next week. They will be distributed to hospitals who plan to vaccinate health care workers first.
Fresno County is expected to receive 7,800 doses of the two-step vaccine somewhere around Dec. 15 and a second, potentially larger shipment at the end of the month.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 12:36 PM.
