Weekend brings more COVID-19 cases, deaths to Fresno, Valley. Here’s the latest update
Almost 2,700 new cases of COVID-19, and more than 40 additional deaths, were reported Monday across Fresno County and neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley, even as signs of a slowing surge in infections and hospitalizations prompted the state to lift regional stay-at-home measures designed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In Fresno County, 534 new cases were identified through laboratory testing, according to the state Department of Public Health. Those cases, combined with 607 on Saturday and 530 on Sunday, boosted the total number of people who have been infected with the virus at some point over the past 10 months to almost 86,000 in the county.
Of those Fresno County residents who have been infected, 1,067 have died, including 24 fatalities reported Monday by the Fresno County Department of Public Health. More than one-third of those deaths have been reported since Jan. 1, making this month by far the deadliest month of the pandemic since the first local case of coronavirus was reported less than 11 months ago.
Also on Monday, Kings, Madera, Merced, and Tulare counties issued their first updates since Friday, inflating the number of cases and deaths that surfaced. Across the region, almost 190,000 people have contracted the novel coronavirus since the first local cases were reported in early March. The death toll from the virus in the Valley now stands at 2,257, including 649 reported since Jan. 1.
Around the Valley
Monday’s coronavirus updates from counties in the central San Joaquin Valley included:
Fresno County: 534 new cases, 85,808 to date; 24 additional deaths, 1,067 to date.
Kings County: 435 new cases in the county’s first update since last Thursday, 20,138 to date; one additional death, 161 to date. Almost 7,700 of the reported cases, and 17 deaths, have occurred among inmates at state prisons in Avenal and Corcoran.
Madera County: 360 new cases in the county’s first update since Friday, 13,943 to date; no additional deaths, 151 to date.
Mariposa County: four new cases on Monday, 355 to date; one additional death, five to date.
Merced County: 527 new cases in the county’s first update since Friday, 25,575 to date; seven additional deaths, 331 to date.
Tulare County: 815 new cases in the county’s first update since Friday, 43,574 to date; 11 additional deaths, 542 to date.
