COVID hospitalizations are surging again in the Fresno area — and most are unvaccinated
More than 160 people are being treated in Fresno County hospitals for confirmed cases of COVID-19, a number that is four times higher than it was just a month ago.
In Fresno and across the central San Joaquin Valley, the number of people who are sick enough with coronavirus to require hospitalization has soared in recent weeks, and health officials say the vast majority are people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
A month ago, on July 4, 38 people were hospitalized in Fresno County hospitals with confirmed coronavirus cases. That figure has generally increased rapidly, ballooning to 164 as of Tuesday, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. Those hospitalized include 31 seriously ill patients in intensive-care units in the county’s hospitals, up from seven ICU patients a month ago.
Valleywide, in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties, the state reports that 288 patients were in hospitals with COVID-19, including 48 in ICU beds across the Valley. Both the overall hospital census and ICU figures are at least four times higher than they were in early July.
The surge in hospitalizations for the virus corresponds to an upswing in confirmed new coronavirus cases not only in the region, but across California and in the United States, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads to more and more people. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that strains of the delta variant accounted for almost 95% of all new COVID-19 cases in the nation over the past two weeks, compared to 1.3% of cases just three months ago.
In California, state health officials estimate that the delta variant – first detected last fall in India and since spreading around the world – represented almost 85% of new cases last month in the state.
In Fresno County, Dr. Rais Vohra said that his office was aware of 87 delta cases as of Friday.
Almost 3,000 patients were in hospitals throughout California with confirmed COVID-19 cases, including almost 670 in intensive-care units as of Tuesday. Another 350 people suspected of having the coronavirus, but for whom tests were pending, were also hospitalized, including 42 ICU patients.
“Cases are increasing statewide, largely among unvaccinated populations,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement issued Wednesday. “Between January 1 and July 14, 99% of the state’s cumulative cases have occurred among unvaccinated individuals.”
Vaccination rates in Fresno County and neighboring Valley counties continue to lag behind the statewide average., with less than half of the overall population in each of the six Valley counties receiving even one dose of the available vaccines that have emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
Statewide, almost 53% of all residents are now fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received both shots of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one shot of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product. Less than 40% of the population is unvaccinated.
In Kings County, nearly two-thirds of all residents remain unvaccinated – the third-highest proportion of unvaccinated people in California.
