Coronavirus update: Already Fresno’s deadliest month, doctors say it’s about to get worse
Just a few days before Christmas, where families would typically gather and celebrate festivities, Fresno County reported nearly 1,000 new cases and almost 100 new deaths, making December its deadliest month yet.
An additional 952 new coronavirus cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the case count to 58,568, while 89 new deaths were added, raising the death toll to 646 since the pandemic began.
With cases surging to new highs nearly every day, December has been Fresno County’s deadliest month tied to the pandemic with about 167 deaths. The previous record was 152 deaths in August.
On Tuesday, doctors said they expect even more people to die in the coming weeks as COVID-19 cases continue to rise locally.
On Monday, a data analysis published by The New York Times listed Fresno County as the region with the largest rate of increase in coronavirus cases among metropolitan areas nationwide.
Health officials have warned that family parties and other social gatherings at private homes would be drivers of infections. Holidays and long weekends have also been a major culprit, they said.
Now, the central San Joaquin Valley has zero ICU beds available left throughout a region that is home to millions. The number of hospitalizations increased to 615 as of Tuesday, with 109 patients in the ICU.
Despite the dire situation, county officials expect it to get worse. The county and its hospitals are bracing for a rise in fatalities by bringing in refrigerated trailer units to provide additional morgue space for coronavirus victims.
The hospital system, including emergency rooms and intensive-care units, are under intense pressure from the volume of patients – both those with COVID-19 and those with other serious conditions including heart attacks, strokes, trauma, and more, local county officials said Tuesday.
And for some patients, a vaccine will come too late, they warned.
Fresno County has already installed one refrigerator trailer at the coroner’s office with a capacity to hold 50 victims, local officials confirmed Tuesday.
Fresno City Council emergency ordinance not likely to pass
A new emergency ordinance proposed by Councilmember Luis Chavez would fine Fresno businesses for not complying with the state’s shutdown order is likely to fail, the Bee confirmed Tuesday.
The order would mandate a five-day shutdown that would go immediately into effect when Fresno County health officials notify the city that no more beds were available in intensive care units. Chavez said Monday that could happen in as soon as a week if current trends hold.
The ordinance would give the city the power to fine shops from $1,000 to $10,000 if they remain open despite the emergency order.
But the emergency ordinance like the one Chavez proposed would need at least five votes to pass, which means it is now likely to fail.
Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld, Paul Caprioglio, and Mike Karbassi said Tuesday they would not support the emergency ordinance, citing that the proposal does not have “any supporting data” to suggest a shutdown would help curb the increase in infections.
Instead, Bredefeld said the solution to Fresno’s response lies in the arrival of vaccines, as well as an increase of hospital resources such as beds and medical staff.
Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order not curbing non-essential activities
Statewide, there are 1,963,853 confirmed coronavirus cases, up by 34,800 Tuesday. The number of Californians who have died since the onset of the pandemic is now 23,303, increasing by 375 from the day before.
Just two months ago, less than 150 patients COVID-19 patients were being admitted daily into hospitals. But by late November, the number doubled to a high of about 300 patients a day.
With Christmas around the corner, the number of hospitalizations has skyrocketed again to roughly 700 new daily patients a day.
Some experts blame social gatherings and California residents who have not reduced their visits to stores and workplaces since Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered them to stay at home in early December, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis.
At the start of the pandemic, when Newsom issued a sweeping stay-at-home order in March, visits to California stores and restaurants plummeted, falling by more than 50% by mid-April as compared to a January baseline.
Visits to stores and restaurants were on average between 25% and 30% lower from June through November.
In early December, as infections rapidly increased and ICU capacity dropped sharply, Newsom ordered a shutdown across most of the state that closed major indoor business operations and significantly reduced the number of customers who could go into retail stores to a limit of 20% capacity at a time.
Though he asked residents to remain at home except for essential activities, it hasn’t seemed to work.
According to The Bee’s analysis, the new orders do not appear to have immediately changed mobility patterns that much.
From Dec. 12 through Dec. 18, visits to California stores and restaurants were down an average of 31%, just slightly different than the 27% decline in visits during the same week a month earlier.
Visits to grocery stores and pharmacies were down about 12% from Dec. 12 through Dec. 18 compared to a January baseline. They were down about the same amount a month earlier, showing little change with the new stay-at-home orders.
National number of deaths nears 325,000
The U.S. tally of coronavirus cases reached 18.2 million Tuesday, up by 201,674 from the day before. Three thousand two hundred thirty-nine new deaths were added, which brings the total to 323,002.
On average, the U.S. has reported 215,974 cases per day over the past week, increasing by 4% from the average two weeks earlier, according to a New York Times analysis.
The number of hospitalizations has reached 117,777 as of Tuesday.