Valley hospitalizations peak for COVID-19, deaths rise in Tulare and Fresno counties
Fresno and Tulare counties each reported two new deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing to 166 the number of fatalities blamed on the novel coronavirus in the central San Joaquin Valley in three months of pandemic.
As cases and deaths rise, so too do the number of people hospitalized for the disease.
The number of new confirmed infections rose by 77 on Thursday afternoon, according to Fresno County’s Department of Public Health. The deaths reported Thursday raised the total number of lives lost to the respiratory disease to 51. The cumulative number of people who have tested positive for the contagion in the Fresno County now stands at 2,395.
Earlier in the day, health officials in Tulare County added 43 new cases to their total, bringing the county to a region-leading 2,475 infections since the first cases in the Valley were reported in early March. To date, Tulare County has lost 98 of its residents to the virus.
Merced County reported four new cases on Thursday afternoon, raising the total there to 391. The number of deaths was unchanged at 7. In neighboring Madera County, the case total stands at 188 after county health officials announced 10 additional confirmed infections.
Summaries of cases, deaths, recoveries and current hospitalizations by county in the Valley include:
Fresno County: 2,395 cases to date, 51 fatalities, 728 recovered, 102 hospitalized.
Kings County: 1,724 cases, six fatalities, 588 recovered, 31 hospitalized.
Madera County: 188 cases, three fatalities, 129 recovered, 11 hospitalized.
Mariposa County: 16 cases, one fatality, 15 recovered, none hospitalized.
Merced County: 391 cases, seven fatalities, 273 recovered, eight hospitalized.
Tulare County: 2,475 cases, 98 fatalities, 1,684 recovered, 43 hospitalized.
Kings County, in its Thursday evening update, reported 36 additional new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths. Of more than 1,700 cases there, almost 60 percent are associated with inmates or staff at state prisons in the county, primarily at Avenal State Prison.
The increases reported Thursday came as the U.S. total rose to more than 2 million and the death toll approached 114,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. In California, almost 140,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 4,854 patients have died from COVID-19.
New high for hospitalizations
More Valley residents were hospitalized for confirmed coronavirus on Wednesday than at any time since the contagion reached the region. Across Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Merced counties, 145 patients were being treated in hospitals, including 39 receiving care in intensive-care units.
Those figures don’t include another 50 patients suspected of having COVID-19 and in hospitals for symptoms consistent with the disease but who had not been confirmed by testing.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
