Here’s where COVID-19 cases are rising most in large and small San Joaquin Valley cities
It’s to be expected that Fresno and other larger Valley cities would be bearing the burden of many of the confirmed coronavirus cases that are part of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
But smaller Valley towns are also seeing the impact of hundreds of cases of the virus.
As of Tuesday, the Fresno County Department of Public Health reported that Fresno, the fifth largest city in California at about 530,000 people, has an estimated 6,061 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since early March. That’s a little more than 1.1% of the population.
Of towns in the Valley with more than 100 coronavirus cases to date, the unincorporated community of Caruthers – tucked amid vineyards and orchards and pastures south of Fresno – has the distinction of the highest proportion of its population that’s been infected to date.
The town has a population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau at less than 2,780 people. Of those, 129 have contracted the virus at some point in the pandemic – or almost 4.7%.
A pair of small Tulare County communities fall right behind, both at just under 4.3%. In Pixley, where the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population at about 3,800 people, the case count reported by the Tulare County Health & Social Services Agency is 162. And in Orosi, cases number 317 from the population of about 7440.
The 10 Valley communities with the highest number of confirmed infections to date, and the percentage of population affected in each, are:
- Fresno (Fresno County), 6,061 cases, or 1.14% of about 530,000 residents.
- Visalia (Tulare County, 2,214 cases, or 1.65% of about 133,800 residents.
- Tulare (Tulare County), 1227 cases, or 1.95% of about 62,800 residents.
- Madera County is not reporting cases in Madera, but a pair of reporting areas east and west Highway 99 around the city. The two reporting areas collectively have 1,131 cases, which would amount to 1.7% of the population of about 65,700 residents.
- Porterville (Tulare County), 1130 cases, or 1.89% of about 59,800 residents.
- Merced (Merced County), 963 cases, or 1.16% of about 83,300 residents.
- Dinuba (Tulare County), 894 cases, or 3.75% of about 23,400 residents.
- Hanford (Kings County), 888 cases, or 1.59% of about 55,900 residents.
- Selma (Fresno County), 656 cases, or 2.67% of about 24,600 residents.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 11:00 AM.
