Coronavirus update: Fresno County has fewest new cases of any day this year
Fresno County had just 213 new coronavirus cases Thursday, according to the California Department of Public Health, the fewest of any day in 2021.
Week over week, the number of new cases was down by 38%.
The number of patients in the county hospitalized with COVID-19 also fell – there were 500 with 81 in intensive-care units, down by 43 and 16 patients.
The most recent update on coronavirus-related deaths is 1,122, and the numbers continue to go up across the state.
The decline in new cases in Fresno County was in line with data statewide and in the San Joaquin Valley, with the number of infections continuing to fall consistently from a winter surge around the new year.
There were 16,696 new cases in the state, well below the 7- and 14-day averages of 21,081 and 26,403. Here are new and total cases updates from around the six-county Central San Joaquin Valley region, according to the CDPH …
Fresno County
- 213 new cases; 86,886 total
Kings County
- 55 new cases; 20,211 total
Madera County
- 64 new cases; 14,194 total
Mariposa County
- 1 new case; 333 total
Merced County
- 80 new cases; 25,439 total
Tulare County
- 68 new cases; 43,462 total
On Jan. 1, there were 53,341 new coronavirus cases reported across the state, according to the CDPH. In Fresno County there were 1,042 on the first day of the new year, the first of seven days with 1,000 or more new cases.
While the number of new cases, hospitalizations and test positivity rate in the state decline, all three metrics remain above pre-winter surge numbers. The two-week test positivity rate of 8.5% is the lowest in statewide since Dec. 6, but still tops the 7.6% in late July, which was the highest rate on any date from May through November.
A deadly day
While California shows improving signs with the number of new cases and hospitalizations, the number of deaths continues to rise.
The CDPH reported 737 new deaths on Thursday, the second highest single-day total since a record 764 on Jan. 22.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths nationwide swelled to 433,195, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
A new variant identified in U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday that the first documented cases of a COVID-19 variant that was first detected in South Africa have been identified in South Carolina.
Similar to variants identified in the United Kingdom and Brazil, the CDC said preliminary data suggests this variant may spread more easily and quickly than other variants. At this time there is no evidence that infections of the new variant cause more severe disease.
The CDC is recommending people avoid travel at this time. Additional measures have been put in place to increase safety, as COVID-19 variants spread around the world. As of Jan. 26, all air passengers flying into the United States must provide a negative test result or documentation of recovery to the airline before they board a flight to the US.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 7:11 AM.