Coronavirus update: California is first state to surpass 3 million confirmed cases
California became the first state with 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
The state reported its first case on Jan. 25 last year, passed the 1 million mark on Nov. 11, the 2 million mark on Dec. 24 and 26 days later now has 3,015,644 coronavirus cases and 33,723 deaths related to COVID-19.
Los Angeles County surpassed 1 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins. It now has 1,024,190 – more than every state other than Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.
In the San Joaquin Valley on Monday, public health officials reported …
Fresno County: 745 new cases with 82,039 total and 932 deaths.
Kern: 624 new cases with 79,489 total and 565 deaths.
San Joaquin: 452 new cases with 57,094 total and 748 deaths.
Stanislaus: 412 new cases with 42,221 total and 739 deaths.
Tulare: 361 new cases with 41,016 total and 501 deaths
Merced: 308 new cases with 23,800 total and 296 deaths
Madera: 135 new cases with 13,328 total and 130 deaths.
Kings: 129 new cases with 19,201 total and 133 deaths.
In Fresno County, there were 585 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, a decrease of 15 from Sunday, though there were four more patients in intensive-care units bringing that number to 92. The county does not report coronavirus-related deaths daily, the toll remaining at 932 since Friday.
Nationally, there were 137,885 new cases and 1,381 deaths reported on Monday, bringing the total to 24,074,657 and the coronavirus death toll to 398,981.
Fresno County to address vaccine concerns
Fresno County public health officials will hold a media call on Tuesday to discuss COVID-19 vaccinations after Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health told healthcare providers to stop using a batch of the Moderna vaccine after a number of people at a San Diego clinic had apparent allergic reactions.
“A higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at one community vaccination clinic, Pan said in a statement on Sunday.
“Fewer than 10 individuals required medical attention over the span of 24 hours. Out of an extreme abundance of caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use other available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by the CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state is complete.”
The state received around 330,000 doses from the Moderna batch between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12 and they were distributed to 287 health care providers. The CDPH has not been notified of any additional clusters or individual events related to this particular lot of vaccine.
Officials for Clinica Sierra Vista, which has locations in Fresno and Kern counties, said that it had received 1,100 doses from the lot in question and would postpone vaccinations until acquiring further supplies.
COVID variant showing up
The CDPH on Sunday also announced a variant of COVID-19 is increasingly being identified by viral genomic sequencing in multiple counties across the state.
“It is common to identify variants of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, and we are working with our federal, local and university partners to better understand this variant and how it might impact Californians,” Pan said in a statement.
“It’s too soon to know if this variant will spread more rapidly than others, but it certainly reinforces the need for all Californians to wear masks and reduce mixing with people outside their immediate households to help slow the spread of the virus. We also urge anyone who has been exposed to the virus to isolate from others to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
The 452R variant has been identified in several outbreaks in Santa Clara County, and been detected in Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties.
Vaccinations resume Thursday at Central High East
COVID-19 vaccinations will be available on Thursday and Friday at the Central High East campus for health care workers and those 75 and older.
An appointment is not necessary, but encouraged and available at unitedhealthcenters.org/vaccineappt. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Central High East campus is located at 3535 N. Cornelia Avenue. Vaccinations will take place in the Aquatics Complex parking lot.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 6:46 AM.