COVID deaths approach 2,200 in Fresno County, surpass 1,000 lives lost in Tulare County
After a deadly winter season of COVID-19 in December, January and February, Fresno County and the rest of the central San Joaquin Valley experienced a relative lull in the number of deaths reported from coronavirus during the spring and summer of 2021.
But the fall of 2021 is showing that the virus and its highly contagious delta variant have not yet released their grip on the region. October became the fourth-deadliest month, both for Fresno County and for neighboring Valley counties, in the global pandemic that was first felt in the area 21 months ago.
Officials with the Fresno County Department of Public Health reported 174 fatalities in October for which COVID-19 was attributed as the cause of death on death certificates. Across the six-county region of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties, health officials reported 362 deaths in the month.
In both Fresno County and the broader area, more deaths were reported in October than any other month of the pandemic aside from the vicious winter surge from December 2020 through February 2021.
Fresno County’s top health official, Dr. Rais Vohra, said Friday that the “vast majority” of people dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated – a trend that is magnified by vaccination rates in the Valley that are far lower than the statewide average.
- Fresno County: 174 deaths reported in October, plus 39 more through the first five days of November.
- Kings County: 40 deaths reported in October, eight so far in November
- Madera County: 18 deaths reported in October, four so far in November.
- Mariposa County: Four deaths reported in October, none so far in November.
- Merced County: 35 deaths reported in October, 14 so far in November.
- Tulare County: 91 deaths reported in October, 16 so far in November.
The current fall surge that began in September is continuing this month, with 39 additional deaths over the first five days of November propelling Fresno County toward the grim milestone of 2,200 fatalities in the pandemic to date. Through Friday, the virus has claimed of 2,170 Fresno County residents.
Tulare County this week surpassed 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, to a total of 1,008 as of Friday.
Valleywide, the pandemic has killed at least 4,440 people – a rate of about three people out of every 200 residents who have tested positive for the virus – since the first infections were discovered in the region in early March 2020.
Vohra said Friday that because the “vast majority of hospitalizations” for COVID-19 in the region are among people who have not been vaccinated, “by extrapolation the people who go on to have most of the fatalities (are unvaccinated), as well.”
The county, however, does not have precise numbers for how many hospitalizations or deaths are unvaccinated or may be breakthrough cases among people who have received their shots.
“The fatalities always trend a little bit later than the hospitalizations,” he added. “The fact that our hospitalization numbers are plateauing means to me that we can expect a plateau in the number of fatalities as well.”
November, Vohra said, “will likely parallel what happened in October … and it’s going to be that the vast majority of those will be unvaccinated.”
Comparing to California
Statewide, the highest rates of COVID-19 deaths in this fall surge have generally been reported in counties with the lowest vaccination rates. In the central San Joaquin Valley, only Fresno County has achieved having 50% of the overall population fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Kings County has the fourth-lowest vaccination rate out of California’s 58 counties at 36.9%. It also had the fifth-highest rate of deaths from COVID-19 in proportion to its largely rural population in October, amounting to a rate of almost 24 deaths per 100,000 residents during the month.
Among the other Valley counties, the October death rates were:
- Mariposa County, with the second-lowest vaccination rate in the state at under 36.5%, experienced a fatality rate of 22.5 deaths per 100,000 residents, seventh-highest in the state.
- Tulare County, which ranks as the 13th-lowest vaccine rate in California at 44.2%, had the ninth-highest death rate at 19.4 per 100,000 residents.
- Fresno County, which is 26th in the state with a vaccination rate of 50.7%, had a death rate of 17.7 per 100,000 residents, 11th among the 58 counties.
- Merced County, with the ninth-lowest vaccine rate at 41.8%, had the 18th-highest death rate at 12.9 per 100,000 residents.
- Madera County, which has the 14th-lowest vaccine rate at 45.6%, had about 10.6 deaths per 100,000 residents, 22nd among California’s 58 counties.
Statewide, there were 2,736 deaths reported in October, amounting to a rate of 6.8 per 100,000 residents. California’s statewide vaccination rate is about 61%.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 2:53 PM.
