Coronavirus update: As positivity rate drops, Fresno County sees nearly 100 deaths in one week

If current trends hold, Fresno County should hit 90,000 positive cases of coronavirus by midweek.

The county reported more than 1,000 new cases over Saturday and Sunday for a total case count of 88,476 according to the latest figures posted Sunday by the California Department of Public Health.

At that, the seven-day positivity rate for the county has dropped to 15%; down from 18% Jan. 25. The 14-day average is even lower, at 13%. The county would need to drop below 8% to move out of the state’s purple tier.

Deaths related to COVID continue to rise in the county. While there were no new deaths reported on Saturday or Sunday, the county added 94 deaths over the past seven days. It has now reported 1,137 deaths since the pandemic began.

Statewide, the death toll reached 40,697 on Sunday.

That’s nearly 10% of the more than 440,000 deaths reported in the U.S.

Vaccine distributions continues

Though some counties have seen shortages in doses, the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine continues across the state. More than 3.4 million doses have been administered statewide. Fresno County has given 72,656, according to state date.

Fresno County is now in phase 1B of its vaccine schedule, which should run through March.

Statistics for other Valley counties

The latest coronavirus updates from counties in the central San Joaquin Valley.

Kings County: 39 new cases posted for Sunday, 20,812 to date; 177 deaths to date. The county’s totals include 7,115 cases in state prison facilities in Avenal and Corcoran.

Madera County: 66 new cases reported on Sunday, 14,443 to date; 175 deaths to date.

Mariposa County: 367 positive cases as of Monday; five deaths to date.

Merced County: 26,230 cases of Friday; 350 deaths to date.

Tulare County: 44,518 cases as of Friday; 588 deaths to date.

This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 9:22 AM.