Thousands more COVID cases, dozens of deaths surface in Fresno, Valley after long weekend
More than 3,800 new coronavirus infections were confirmed among residents of Fresno County and neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley following the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
For several of the region’s counties, Tuesday was the first update of case counts they had provided since Friday. In addition to catching up on reporting new cases, counties throughout the area also acknowledged an additional 76 fatalities blamed on COVID-19, driving the death toll in the Valley to almost 2,100 since the first deaths were reported in March 2020.
January has now become the deadliest month of the pandemic. So far this month – with 12 days remaining in the month – health officials in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties have reported a combined 473 fatalities, eclipsing December as the month in which the most deaths were reported.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health has thus far reported 257 deaths in January, topping December’s 230 fatalities. On Tuesday afternoon, Fresno County interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra reported 36 additional deaths that were confirmed since Friday. Over the past 10 months, a total of 968 Fresno County residents have succumbed to COVID-19. Deaths are attributed to the coronavirus based on the cause noted on a victim’s death certificate.
The California Department of Public Health reported Tuesday that there were 446 new infections in Fresno County. That drove the total number of new cases in the county to more than 3,450 since Friday, and more than 82,400 since March 2020.
Around the Valley
Tuesday’s COVID-19 updates from counties in the central San Joaquin Valley included:
Fresno County: 446 new cases, 82,485 to date; 36 additional deaths, 968 to date.
Kings County: 114 new cases, 19,435 to date; two additional deaths, 145 to date. More than 7,000 of the county’s confirmed infections, and 15 deaths, are associated with state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 545 new cases in the county’s first update since Friday, 13,323 to date; 21 additional deaths, 151 to date.
Mariposa County: No new cases; 346 to date; no additional deaths, four to date.
Merced County: 1,013 new cases in the county’s first update since Friday, 24,452 to date; 12 additional deaths, 308 to date.
Tulare County: 1,691 new cases, 41,867 to date; five additional deaths, 506 to date.
