Fresno health officials warn hospitals to ‘brace’ for more COVID cases, amid new spike
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A fifth consecutive week of rising COVID-19 cases locally pushed Fresno County to its highest total of new weekly cases in more than two months.
County and state health officials reported 602 new laboratory-confirmed infections on Friday in Fresno County, bringing the week’s total to 1,352. That’s more than double the 650 cases that were reported the previous week, and almost five times higher than this spring’s low-water mark of 296 cases in mid-April.
The latest report of cases came the same day that Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer confirmed that he has tested positive for the virus for a second time in the pandemic.
Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, and Joe Prado, assistant director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, noted that cases may continue to rise in the coming weeks based on an increase in coronavirus traces showing up in wastewater samples throughout the county.
“Our wastewater surveillance is showing us some disturbing trends,” Vohra said. “It means there is a lot of COVID burden in our community.” When people are infected with the coronavirus, they shed the virus in bodily excretions that make their way into the sewer systems.
Prado said that between May 3 and May 13, sewage testing revealed a 90% increase in gene copies of coronavirus.
“What typically happens … is that the wastewater signal goes up first, then seven to 10 days later we see cases go up, and then hospitalizations,” Vohra said. He said his agency is warning hospitals and medical practices to “brace yourself” in anticipation of an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the next couple of weeks.
So far, however, the number of people hospitalized for serious coronavirus infections has not increased at the same rate as cases over the past few weeks, Vohra said.
One possible factor is the availability of medications to treat COVID-19 once a patient has tested positive. “In mid-2022, if you have COVID, we tell you to run, don’t walk, to get a medication,” Vohra said. Between oral medications and intravenous infusion treatments, “there’s a lot of different options.
“A five-day course of an oral medication can convert you from having a very severe prognosis and hospitalization to something milder that you can manage at home,” Vohra added. “We can do much better now than we could last year or even a few months ago.”
On his Twitter account, Dyer tweeted that he was experiencing cold-like symptoms Thursday night and took two at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. “Unfortunately, both were positive,” he said.
“I have canceled all appointments and events for the next few days,” Dyer added. “At this time, I have very mild symptoms, but will continue following City of Fresno health protocols.” He said he intends to work remotely as his office prepares to roll out a proposed 2022-23 budget for the city.
Dyer previously contracted the coronavirus following an election-night dinner in November 2020, at which other people including Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau and Fresno-area developer Darius Assemi were also infected.
Around the Valley
Significant week-over-week increases in new infections were also seen this week in neighboring Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties.
- Kings County: 201 new cases through Thursday, compared to 95 cases in the week ending May 14.
- Madera County: 160 new cases through Friday, compared to 131 the previous week.
- Tulare County: 331 new cases through Thursday, compared to 171 cases the previous week.
- Merced County: 342 new cases through Friday, compared to 266 cases the previous week. In Merced County, the weekly increase came despite a downward shift of more than 10,000 in its cumulative total for 26 months of the pandemic. The adjustment reflected the county’s alignment with California Department of Public Health reporting that counts only laboratory-confirmed cases from PCR tests. Prior to this week, Merced County health officials had included positive results from rapid antigen tests in its totals.
Explore the following interactive charts to see the surges and lulls in cases, deaths and hospitalizations over the past two years in Fresno County and the central San Joaquin Valley.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
