Coronavirus update: New case numbers improve, but Fresno County still in purple tier

Fresno County is receiving more doses of COVID-19 vaccines than anticipated this week, though public health officials are not sure why there was an increase, or whether it will continue next week.

The COVID-19 new case data also continues to improve with 246 new cases reported on Tuesday, below the 7-day and 14-day averages for new cases at 308 and 364 and a significant improvement over the past month. On Jan. 9, there were 1,127 new confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The test positivity rate also continues to decline, to 9.7%, though Fresno County on Tuesday remained in the purple (most restrictive) tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

One county, Del Notre, was moved to the less restrictive red tier from the purple tier. But 53 of 58 counties in the state remain in the purple tier including most in the San Joaquin Valley. Statewide, Del Norte and Mariposa counties are in the red tier and Alpine, Sierra and Trinity counties are in the orange tier.

The test positivity rate in Fresno County has been trending down for weeks, falling from 19.4% on Jan. 12 to 18.3% on Jan. 18, 15.3% on Jan. 26, 11.4% on Feb. 2 and 9.7% on Tuesday.

Fresno County, however, is not all that close to moving to a less-restrictive tier.

To move to the red tier, a county must have a test positivity rate between 5% and 8%. The number of new Fresno County COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 population, while also trending down, is high at 30.3. In the red tier, that number is between 4 and 7.

A county must remain in its current tier for a minimum of three weeks before being able to advance to a less-restrictive tier, according to the California Department of Public Health, and can move to a less-restrictive tier if it has met that tier’s criteria for two weeks in a row including the California Health Equity Metric.

California death toll closing in on highest in nation

The CDPH reported 327 new coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, up from the 207 reported the previous day, but still well under the 7-day and 14-day averages of 450 and 496.

It lists a total of 44,477 deaths since the start of the pandemic; the data including totals through Monday. The Center for Systems Science at Johns Hopkins University had 45,009 deaths in California in an early Wednesday morning update, closing in on New York for the most of any state in the nation.

New York, according to the CSSE, has had 45,140 deaths, a difference of just 131.

Here are the most recent updates from the CDPH for the central San Joaquin Valley …

Kings County

• 52 new cases; 21,232 total
• 7-day average 69; 14-day 83
• 3 new deaths; 197 total

Madera County

• 37 new cases; 14,887 total
• 7-day average 45; 14-day 59
• 0 new deaths; 184 total

Mariposa County

• 0 new cases; 355 total
• 7-day average 2; 14-day 2
• 0 new deaths; 5 total

Merced County

• 105 new cases; 27,082
• 7-day average 114; 14-day 136
• 5 new deaths; 367 total

Tulare County

• 97 new cases; 45,617
• 7-day average 150; 14-day 178
• 6 new deaths; 651 total

Stanislaus County official on unequal vaccine distribution

While Fresno County is receiving a bump in coronavirus vaccines this week, low vaccination numbers are still an issue in the Valley and Vito Chiesa, chairman of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, said the state is allocating more doses of vaccine to more-affluent areas of the state.

In Stanislaus County, 52,476 doses of vaccine have been administered, according to the CDPH, about 9,660 per 100,000. There are several counties in the Bay Area with smaller populations that have been able to vaccinate a larger number of individuals, per 100,000.

“It’s a fundamental unfairness that has to change,” Chiesa told The Modesto Bee.

COVID-19 testing lab under investigation

The California Department of Public Health is investigating the state’s billion-dollar COVID-19 testing lab in Southern California after allegations of mismanagement and incompetence that were first reported by CBS13 in Sacramento.

The lab, PerkinElmer, is contracted by the state to process up to 150,000 coronavirus tests per day by March.

The allegations include workers seen sleeping on the job, contamination of tests that have caused inconclusive results, swapped samples and inaccurate results sent to patients.

“As the Vice-Chair of the Senate Health Committee I find the allegations regarding the failures at the State’s new, billion dollar, COVID lab is concerning and downright shameful,” said state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, in a statement. “Millions of Californians rely on the accuracy of these tests. The mistreatment of COVID test samples jeopardizes the health and safety of over 40 million Californians.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 7:32 AM.