Fresno County adds 89 COVID-19 deaths, making December the pandemic’s deadliest month
Another 89 Fresno County residents have died from issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest update on Monday from health officials.
That’s a total of 646 people who have died in Fresno County related to the pandemic, according to the first deaths update since Tuesday. The county said Monday 2,188 new cases pushed the total to 57,616.
With 165 deaths so far in December, the month is now Fresno County’s deadliest related to the pandemic. The previous record was 152 deaths in August.
The San Joaquin Valley has been on a regional stay-at-home order, as has Southern California, for most of December.
Each region essentially has no room in hospital intensive care units. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday each region had effectively 0% capacity left in ICU beds.
The state is experiencing record-breaking numbers in terms of how many people are in ICU beds at 3,644 — double the peak from July. That is also an increase of 63% from two weeks ago, according to state numbers.
The infection positivity rate across the state has also risen from 8.7% two weeks ago to 12% on Monday, according to state numbers.
COVID-19 strain
As a new strain of COVID-19 continues to spread in southern England, Newsom on Monday called on the federal government to take action to prevent it from reaching the United States.
The governor delivered his remarks from quarantine, after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
Newsom noted that there is no evidence that the new strain has reached California, but that the U.S. government should take action to make sure it doesn’t.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County reported 1,234 new cases since Friday and one death. That’s a total of 29,364 cases and 354 deaths to date.
Merced County health officials said 734 new cases drove the total to 16,760. Seven new deaths makes for a total of 223.
Kings County added 132 cases since Sunday, but reported no changes to the number of deaths, which total 14,786 and 104, respectively.
Mariposa County remained unchanged on Monday with 196 cases and four deaths.
