Fresno County adds 848 new COVID-19 cases. State hits 2 million positives mark
Fresno County reported an additional 848 new cases of the coronavirus on Christmas Eve the same day the state topped 2 million total positive COVID-19 tests.
Heath officials in Fresno County have now reported 60,488 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to state numbers. The county updates the number of deaths less often so Thursday’s count was unchanged at 646 total.
Officials have pleaded with residents to not gather during the Christmas holiday, fearing further spread. Thanksgiving gatherings have been largely blamed for the recent explosion in new cases.
Medical staffers from Community Medical Centers in Fresno and Clovis appeared in a video that went public on Wednesday to share their heartbreaking stories of the tragedies they’ve seen in intensive care units.
“It’s one thing to say you want this to end,” surgical nurse Camy Witte says in the video, fighting back tears. “It’s another to do something to end this.”
The video ends with a plea to wear masks and to avoid gatherings.
Hospitals in Fresno County only have 149 licensed ICU beds for adults, but county health officials said facilities have made more room for patients by shuffling space inside their walls to create additional capacity. But as of this week, just seven ICU beds were available for new patients.
California races to 2 million cases
California surpassed a reported total of 2 million lab-confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday, as new infections, hospitalizations and deaths all continue to pour in at a record clip.
It took more than eight months for California to amass the first million. In the furious, ongoing surge that has lasted essentially all of November and December, the second million has taken less than six weeks, including the most recent half-million flooding in over the past 13 days.
The California Department of Public Health officially reports the all-time COVID-19 case total at 2,003,146 and the death toll at 23,635 as of Thursday. The state reported 351 new deaths, third most of any day in the pandemic behind 379 on Dec. 16 and 361 on Wednesday.
Other Valley counties
Kings County added 291 cases and two deaths on Thursday. That’s a total of 15,242 and 110, respectively.
Tulare, Merced, Madera and Mariposa counties have not updated their count on Christmas Eve.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
