Coronavirus update: Infection rate up in Fresno for holiday weekend; hospitalizations dip
Fresno County reported 1,763 new cases of COVID 19 over the Christmas holiday weekend.
As of Saturday, the county has had 62,251 positive cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, placing it seventh among the state’s 58 counties for most cases.
It continues to outpace the state average for the number of new daily cases (per 100,000 residents) and for the overall positivity rate.
The state is reporting 80.7 new positive cases each day per every 100,000 persons. In Fresno County, that number is 82.4 new cases. When adjusted to the state’s tiered system for reopening the number is 56.1, still eight times higher than minimum allowed in purple tier, which carries the most restrictions.
Of course, those restrictions have been overridden by a regional stay-at-home order, designated to areas of the state with hospital ICU availability below 15%.
Going into the Christmas weekend the 12-county San Joaquin Region, which includes Fresno County, was at 0% ICU capacity.
In Fresno County, seven ICU beds were available on Christmas. That number was down from the 18 beds that were available at the start of the week.
Six-hundred and seventeen people were reportedly hospitalized with COVID in Fresno County on Saturday. That’s a small improvement, at 12 fewer patients than the day prior.
The county hasn’t given a deaths update since Tuesday, when health officials reported 89 people had died of the virus.
Still, December has been the deadliest month of the pandemic in Fresno County and across the central San Joaquin Valley. Of the 646 people in Fresno County who have died from illness related to the coronavirus, one fourth were reported this month, leaving the county hospitals to bring in refrigerated trailer units to provide additional morgue space.
As of Christmas Day, 23,983 people have died of COVID-19 across the state.
Anti-vaccine sign appear on Highway 41 overpass
On Sunday, an apparently anti-vaccine sign appeared along the Highway 41 overpass near Shaw avenue in Fresno. Several large banners are attached along the restraining fence and can be seen from the highway.
In white and red block letters they read: “Vaccines can cause injury and death.”
The Food and Drug Administration has said huge studies of the COVID-19 vaccines have uncovered no major safety risks, but recipients are being monitored — a standard practice for any rollout of a new treatment.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday released guidance on COVID-19 vaccinations for people who have pre-existing conditions and are at a higher risk of severe illness if they contract the coronavirus. The CDC guidance says they can take an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine as long as they “have not had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the vaccine.”
California began distributing the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine to front-line health care workers and long-term care facilities earlier this month. The central San Joaquin Valley’s 327,000 shots started going out a few days before Christmas.
Numbers around the San Joaquin Valley
According to state numbers updated on Friday, Madera County has seen 9,770 positive cases and 116 related deaths. Tulare County has reported 31,323 case and 373 deaths. Merced County has seen 17,726 cases and 232 deaths. Kings County is at 15,460 cases and 110 related deaths.
Mariposa County has seen the fewest cases and deaths in the region — 203 and four deaths — and remains one of two counties in the state’s red tier, despite being under the regional stay-at-home order.
This story was originally published December 27, 2020 at 10:09 AM.