Coronavirus update: Fresno County updates death toll for first time in 10 days
Nearly a year into the global pandemic that has upended the lives of millions, Fresno County on Monday reported an additional 805 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total to 75,621 countywide.
Following a 10-day period where no death toll update was provided, health officials on Monday reported 91 new deaths, which brings the countywide total to 802 since March.
In the past week, the county has reported about 900 new coronavirus cases per day — a number that officials expect will worsen as the state enters the critical post-holiday reporting period.
The number of people hospitalized in Fresno County remained at 676 as of Monday, with 117 people in intensive-care units.
About 1,720 total new coronavirus cases were reported Monday in the central San Joaquin Valley, which includes the counties of Fresno, Tulare, Madera, Merced, Mariposa and Kings, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The region has reported more than 165,000 deaths to date.
A stay-at-home order remains in effect for the Valley. For weeks now, the state has continued to report zero ICU bed availability across the region.
California enters critical post-holiday period
Almost two weeks into the new year, California has entered the critical post-holiday period of the pandemic that health officials had warned about for months.
In the weeks following the holiday season, they predicted cases linked to Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and other family gatherings were likely to explode.
Though they say it is still too early to predict how these gatherings have affected the rise in new cases, as of Monday, at least 2,745,931 California residents had tested positive since the pandemic began.
The total increased by 53,389 new cases on Monday, while the number of residents who had died increased by 476. There are now a total of 30,479 deaths that have been recorded statewide.
The state is reporting an average of 40,000 new daily cases, while the average number of deaths has totaled about 406 a day, based on totals from the past two weeks. These averages are eight times higher than the rate reported during the first weeks of November.
The state has already been grappling with a dire surge that has lasted more than two months, beginning after Thanksgiving, which marked the onset of the holiday season.
Health officials are wary of what the next few weeks will hold in store as the state enters another crucial inflection point in the health crisis, especially with the vaccine rollout proceeding at a sluggish pace.
And though the state is ramping up its vaccine distribution efforts, some health officials are concerned about the number of workers who are declining to take the shots, along with Latino and Black populations.
The number of people who have been prioritized for a vaccine and injected with the new drug increased by 49,071 on Sunday, bringing the total number to 783,476 vaccinations across the state. This includes healthcare workers and residents of long term care facilities.
Seniors to be next in line for COVID-19 vaccine
The U.S. case count for the number of coronavirus cases has reached at least 22.6 million as of Monday, increasing by 222,900 since Sunday.
Nationwide, the country is reporting a total of nearly 400,000 deaths, with at least 376,476 deaths tallied Monday, up by 2,048 from the day before.
There has been an average of 250,721 new cases per day reported in the past week, while the average number of Americans dying has topped 4,000 in recent days.
The number of people hospitalized across the country has totaled to about 129,748 as of Monday. Of those, 23,494 are in ICU.
To speed up the rate at which Americans are being injected with the new coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration on Tuesday is slated to approve vaccination for everyone over the age of 65 and adults of all ages who are considered high-risk.
These adults include those who have a pre-existing condition such as diabetes, chronic lung or heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer, which would put them at greater risk for developing COVID-19 complications.
The move brings the U.S. closer to the widespread immunity that will put an end to mass fears of coronavirus contagion.
Health officials are expected to announce the new guidelines at a news conference at noon Eastern on Tuesday, the New York Times reports.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 8:49 AM.