Coronavirus update: Fresno County shatters records with huge spike of infections
Fresno County on Wednesday reported 2,590 new coronavirus cases, a massive spike that some are blaming on the state’s new tracking tool.
The implementation of a new “auto processing feature” resulted in an intense surge across the state, where a backlog of 12,630 previously unprocessed cases was factored into California’s total case count that state officials described to The Bee as coming from “previous days.”
As a result, the number of total COVID-19 cases in Fresno County stood at 47,316, though deaths remained at 557, according to the California Department of Public Health. The county will provide another update on the number of deaths Friday.
As of Wednesday, 26,742 people had recovered, increasing by 548 from Tuesday.
There were 491 hospitalizations countywide. Of those, 86 were in the ICU. Fresno County earlier this week received 7,800 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. About 40% of those doses went to local hospitals. The vaccines are currently only being offered to health care workers who treat COVID-19 patients. Next in line are the residents and staff at long-term care facilities.
In response to the region’s dwindling ICU bed supply, the county earlier this week launched a temporary 50-bed care site at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.
Across the six counties that make up the central San Joaquin Valley, 4,115 new cases were reported Wednesday. A total of 112,036 cases and 1,319 deaths have been reported in the Valley since the pandemic began.
California’s COVID-19 numbers shatter records
California reported an extremely high coronavirus case count Wednesday, shattering previous records for new cases by several thousand. It was the highest daily death toll the state had seen yet.
The state added 53,711 cases and 293 deaths Wednesday. It marks California’s newest daily record by nearly 6,000 cases.
California now has a total of 1,699,276 coronavirus cases from which 21,877 people have died. The state has recorded 14,939 hospitalizations, increasing by nearly three quarters from the tally 14 days ago.
Due to the high number of hospitalizations across the state, various counties have opened temporary field hospitals to care for non-ICU patients. Several locations, including Fresno, Porterville, Costa Mesa, Sacramento and Imperial County, are getting the facilities. There were just 1,339 available ICU beds statewide as of Wednesday.
U.S. exceeds 17 million coronavirus cases
The U.S., as of Thursday, exceeded 17 million total coronavirus cases, up by 244,699 from the previous day. Of those, 307,642 have died, increasing by at least 3,657 new deaths Thursday. The average number of deaths has increased by more than 60% in just two weeks.
The number of deaths recorded Thursday is about 500 more than the previous record set just one week ago.
There has been an average of about 206,557 new cases a day over the past week, an increase of 28% from earlier this month, according to an analysis from The New York Times.
Vice President Mike Pence on Friday is scheduled to be vaccinated with the new coronavirus vaccine that was rolled out earlier this week, The New York Times reports. His wife, Karen Pence, will also be immunized on Friday.
The move is the Trump administration’s latest effort to demonstrate that the vaccine, created by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, is safe and effective.
Pence’s vaccination comes on the heels of the nation’s massive vaccine distribution effort that began earlier this week. In addition to Pence and his wife, Surgeon General Jerome Adams will also be vaccinated. Top public health experts were also urging other officials, including President Donald Trump, President-elect Joseph Biden, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, to get vaccinated.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 8:29 AM.