Coronavirus update: January could be Fresno’s worst month yet. Here’s the latest
December was the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic in Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley. More than 160,000 people tested positive, and at least 1,500 had died since the pandemic began.
Health officials predict January is poised to be worse.
Nearly two weeks into the New Year, Fresno County on Tuesday reported another 44 fatalities from COVID-19, following the previous update of 91 deaths on Jan. 1. Together, the two updates make up 135 deaths since the start of 2021, bringing the countywide total to 846 to date.
In the past 12 days, more than 11,200 Fresno County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, including nearly 2,900 new cases in the past three days alone. As of Tuesday, a total of 76,581 people had been infected countywide, up by 960 from the day before.
With cases and deaths continuing to mount, the number of people requiring hospitalization also remains high. As of Tuesday, 684 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized, including 102 in intensive-care units.
The county’s Tuesday update was followed by the announcement of a scheduled COVID-19 vaccination plan, which outlines the expansion of the COVID-19 vaccine to a larger number of people.
When the vaccine was first distributed in mid-December, the limited number of vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna were initially prioritized for “front-line” healthcare workers and residents of long term care facilities.
The individuals who fall into those categories will continue to be vaccinated this month in addition to workers in psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals, residents and staff in skilled nursing facilities for older or medically vulnerable patients, paramedics and emergency medical technicians, and dialysis centers.
The second tier of vaccinations has also begun for the next group of prioritized individuals. That group includes patients in facilities that provide continuous supervision and support care, field staff for public health agencies, primary care clinics such as health centers for low-income residents, rural health centers, clinics at correctional facilities, and urgent-care clinics.
Home health and in-home support workers, and community health workers, are also part of the second round but have not yet begun to receive the vaccines.
Health officials also anticipate those working in specialty clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, dental, and other health clinics will also be vaccinated toward the end of the month.
February will include seniors who are 75 and older, food and agriculture workers, education and child-care workers, and emergency services personnel.
In March, vaccine doses are expected to be made available for seniors ages 65 and up with underlying medical conditions, inmates in jails and prisons, workers in the transportation and logistics industries, critical manufacturing, and workers in the industrial, commercial, residential, and sheltering construction industries, as well as the homeless.
As part of the vaccine rollout, the county on Tuesday also announced the opening of a large vaccine clinic at the Fresno County Fairgrounds to speed up the rate of vaccinations. The new site will be capable of administering 1,500 shots a day, health officials confirmed.
The vaccines distributed by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses per individual, injected at several weeks apart, to provide full protection from COVID-19.
California averages nearly 45,000 COVID-19 cases per day
As of Wednesday morning, there have been a total of 2,796,687 California residents who have been sick with COVID-19. An additional 50,758 infections were reported on Tuesday. The state is now averaging about 43,444 cases per day, based on totals from the past week.
An additional 548 deaths were recorded Tuesday, which brings the number of statewide fatalities to 30,513 residents.
With hospitalizations on the rise, California reported 22,665 residents in its hospitals as of Tuesday, with 4,962 in the ICU.
The results come from a set of new data that show hospitals likely will not be as crowded with COVID-19 patients in the next four weeks with a projection of 19.1% ICU bed availability. Currently, the region was just below 10%.
County officials said the new county order, which would reopen some businesses such as restaurants, gyms, and other operations, will go into effect Wednesday, Jan. 13.
The state requires regions to have at least 15% ICU bed availability to end the order.
The Sacramento region is the first of four California regions to be given the green light to reopen some businesses. Southern California, the Bay Area, and the San Joaquin Valley remained under the restrictive shutdown order as of Tuesday evening.
There have been a total of 816,673 vaccinations across the state as of Tuesday, which increased by 33,197 new vaccinations on Monday.
U.S. tops average of 3,000 daily coronavirus deaths
There were a total of 22.9 million cases as of Tuesday, up by 229,603 new cases from the day before. There were another 4,402 people who had died of the virus Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 380,878 deaths since the pandemic began, The New York Times reports.
The U.S. broke another new record this week by averaging more than 3,000 daily deaths for the first time.
There are 131,326 hospitalizations nationwide. Of those, 23,881 remain in the ICU.
A total of 27,696,150 COVID-19 vaccinations have been distributed across the country, while at least 9,327,138 people had received their first injection as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 8:38 AM.