Fresno County adds 45 new cases of coronavirus. Valley added 100 cases six straight days
Fresno County tallied 45 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, but no new deaths, as staggering economic news also came to light.
The county totals 1,417 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to health officials. Twenty-two of those people have died and another 437 have recovered through Friday.
The central San Joaquin Valley has added at least 100 new positive cases each day since Sunday. There’s also been at least one death in the six-county region for five straight days.
As the number of cases climb in much of the Valley, the picture on how many people are unemployed became clearer.
The five-county region of Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Madera and Kings had 156,200 people out of work, according to numbers released Friday by the Economic Development Department.
All five counties each had unemployment rates of 16.5% or higher. Jobless rates that high haven’t been seen in the Valley in more than a decade and highlight how hard the economy has been hit by the response to COVID-19.
The Valley and the state
Tulare County confirmed an additional death in an update Friday. At least one death has been reported in the county each day this week.
Tulare added 438 new positive cases on Friday, bringing the countywide total to 1,641 cases with 588 people recovered.
Madera County had 82 cases, two deaths and 63 recoveries as of Friday. Officials took one positive case off of Thursday’s count and added three recoveries. The number of deaths saw no change.
Merced County has tallied six deaths, but no new deaths on Friday. A total 251 have tested positive, 17 more than the day before. Another 139 have recovered.
More than 3,600 people have died in California after testing positive for coronavirus, and more than 95,800 nationally, according to The COVID Tracking Project and Johns Hopkins University CSSE.
Almost 1.6 million people have tested positive in the country.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 3:45 PM.
