COVID cases at Hume Lake camp come as coronavirus surges in Fresno and central California
The still-undisclosed number of COVID-19 cases that arose last week among youth campers at Hume Lake Christian Camp come as Fresno County, its neighboring counties and California experience a surge of infections in recent weeks.
The 582 cases reported for Fresno County last week was the highest weekly total since early April.
The camp in the mountains of eastern Fresno County hosted about 2,000 campers last week, including more than 450 people – students in middle and high school and adult leaders – from Fresno’s The Well Community Church.
Between 25 and 30 of the campers from The Well were sent home early as a precaution because of their exposure to other children at the camp identified as having COVID-19 symptoms and testing positive for the virus.
The Well’s lead pastor, Brad Bell, said he was unaware of any children or leaders from the church who got sick or tested positive for coronavirus at the camp.
The cases at the camp underscore the possibility for the virus to spread despite robust precautions put in place, including proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test before campers arrived at the camp.
Measures at the camp to minimize the potential for exposure are more stringent than at many businesses across the Valley, where the new cases have grown considerably since California largely reopened its economy and lifted many limitations on businesses and activities in mid-June.
As of midweek Wednesday, more than 650 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed this week in Fresno County. So far in July, 1,834 people have contracted the virus.
The raw rate of new daily cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period rose to 11.8 on Wednesday – more than 5 1/2 times higher than it was three weeks ago.
Four more deaths from coronavirus in Fresno County were acknowledged on Wednesday – among 21 reported fatalities this month.
Since the first local cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, more than 104,000 cases have been reported in Fresno County, including 1,746 deaths.
On Tuesday, the number of people being treated in Fresno County hospitals for confirmed cases of COVID-19 reached 103, the first time the patient count has exceeded 100 since mid-April. Another 13 people were in hospitals with symptoms consistent with the coronavirus but were awaiting confirming test results.
A total of 24 people with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases were sick enough to require treatment in intensive-care units in Fresno County.
Neighboring counties are also seeing cases and hospitalizations increase.
- In Kings County, 281 cases have been reported over the past seven days – the highest seven-day total since mid-February. The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday was 21, more than four times the number at the beginning of this month.
- In Madera County, health officials have reported 168 cases in a seven-day period ending Wednesday. That’s more than any seven-day span since early March. Hospitalizations for patients with confirmed COVID-19 infections reached 16 on Tuesday, double the eight patients reported on July 1.
- In Merced County, health officials have not posted an updated case count since Friday. At that time, there were 340 cases over the prior seven days, a volume not seen since early April. Hospitalizations on Tuesday numbered 20, compared to only two at the beginning of July.
- In Tulare County, health officials Wednesday added 204 cases in their first update since July 20 – more than any seven-day period since mid-May. There were 34 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tulare County hospitals as of Tuesday, up from 13 on July 1 and the highest number since late March.
Across the Valley, counties have experienced a total of 228,525 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in the region in March 2020.
Of those cases, nearly 3,600 residents have succumbed to the respiratory disease and or other complications caused by the virus.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 5:30 PM.
