Coronavirus update: ICU capacity improving across state, including Fresno County
In lifting a stay-at-home order, the California Department of Public Health projected a significant increase in intensive-care unit capacity over the next four weeks and in many counties across the state it is trending in the right direction, including Fresno County.
The county on Tuesday reported that there were 88 COVID-19 patients in ICUs, down seven from the previous day.
Aside from slight upticks in Kern and Sacramento counties, which had been trending in the right direction, the numbers continue to improve. According to the most recent data from the CDPH, Kern County added eight coronavirus patients to ICUs and now has 96, higher than the 14-day rolling average of 92. Sacramento County added five ICU patients for a total of 112, lower than the 14-day average of 120.
Statewide, though, the number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs was 4,315, down 80 or 1.8% from the previous day. The CDPH’s four-week projection of ICU capacity in the San Joaquin Valley region is 22.3%.
Here are the number of new cases, total cases and deaths in the valley as reported by the counties …
Kern: 555 new cases, 91,119 total with 591 deaths
Fresno: 528 new cases; 86,336 total with 1,084 deaths
Sacramento: 401 new cases; 83,931 total 1,194 deaths
San Joaquin: 293 new cases; 60,545 total with 844 deaths
Stanislaus: 410 new cases; 44,852 total with 803 deaths
Tulare: 356 new cases; 43,930 total with 552 deaths
Merced: 168 new cases; 25,743 total with 332 deaths
Madera: 61 new cases; 14,004 total with 175 deaths
Kings: 85 new cases; 20,223 total with 161 deaths
The CDPH reported 17,028 new cases with a total of 3,153,186 and 37,537 coronavirus-related deaths.
The first confirmed cases of the coronavirus in California were reported a year ago Tuesday. There have been more than 3.1 million since, by far the most in the country and, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, more than all but four countries around the world.
Global cases surpass 100 million
The CSSE also reported on Tuesday that the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is now 100,296,057 with slightly more than one-quarter in the United States. The number of coronavirus deaths is 2,158,473.
In the U.S., there are 25,443,700 cases and 425,216 deaths.
County plans to vaccinate first responders
The Fresno County Department of Public Health continues to deal with a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine, but in early February will begin a program to vaccinate first responders including police and firefighters.
“We are looking to set aside some doses and see the interest within that population,” said Joe Prado, community health division manager for the Fresno County Department of Public Health. “With their exposure requirements, it’s something that is of concern.”
The county requested 38,000 doses this week, but received only 12,000 from the state, officials said, leading officials to close down vaccination clinics.
Frustration with the rollout of vaccines is growing across the Valley.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo reopening
Fresno Chaffee Zoo will welcome guests back to the Zoo starting Friday.
“With guidance and approval from our local health officials, the Zoo is excited to re-open our doors to the public, allowing us to offer outdoor family fun to our community and continue educating guests about animals and conservation,” Amos Morris, Chief Operations Officer, said in a news release Wednesday morning.
Guests are also encouraged to pre-purchase their timed entry tickets at fresnochaffeezoo.org.
The zoo opens at 9 a.m. daily. Last entry is at 4 p.m. with closing at 5 p.m.
Will the vaccine plan leave behind essential workers?
California’s plan to streamline the distribution of coronavirus vaccines and move to an age-based eligibility system is raising concerns that some essential workers will have to wait longer to be vaccinated.
“Millions of working Californians, most of them people of color, have no choice but to leave their homes and work each day, exposing themselves, their families, and their communities to COVID-19 and its devastation,” said Bob Schoonover, president of SEIU California, in a statement following the announcement of the state’s plan.
“Whether visiting homes to save neglected and abused children, securing and cleaning buildings, helping house the homeless, staffing our state’s prisons, or helping people with disabilities and the elderly in the airport, essential workers continue to keep critical services operating every day, knowing that they are putting their own lives at risk.
“California labeled these workers essential when the state wanted their service through the pandemic; if they are removed from the priority list for vaccination, the state is now saying they are expendable.”
Under California’s Vaccination Plan, healthcare workers and long-term care residents were to be the first to receive vaccines in Phase 1A.
Phase 1B had two tiers, the first for individuals 65 and older and those at risk of exposure to COVID-19 at work in education, childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture and the second tier for those at risk in transportation and logistics; industrial commercial, residential and sheltering facilities and services; critical manufacturing; and those in congregate settings including those incarcerated or homeless.
Individuals 50 to 64 years of age and those 16 to 49 who have an underlying health condition or a disability that increases their risk of severe COVID-19 were in Phase IC along with those at risk of exposure in work sectors including water and wastewater, defense, energy, chemical and hazardous materials, communications, financial services and government operations.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 7:56 AM.