Fresno County adds 251 new COVID-19 cases. Officials brace for New Year’s Eve parties
Fresno County reached 65,400 cases of the deadly coronavirus on Thursday after reporting 251 new cases.
The county did not update the number of deaths reported. That total has remained at 646 for Fresno County for at least a week.
There are now 621 hospitalized people with COVID-19 and 12 open beds in the intensive care units, according to county data.
Of those who tested positive, 26,742 have recovered in Fresno County.
The six county region of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare have now seen 145,156 positive cases and 1,543 deaths since the pandemic began.
California health officials are dealing with the state’s worst surge in coronavirus cases as more than 2.2 million people have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began. More than 25,000 people have died from the virus statewide.
There were 300,696 people, or about 1% of the statewide population, that were vaccinated as of Wednesday, including the state’s health care workers and residents of long term care facilities.
About 21,433 people remained hospitalized, including 4,478 people in the ICU, data from the Covid tracking project shows.
New Year’s Eve parties
Fresno officials are weighing hefty fines for people who hold large gatherings during the New Year’s Eve and flouting safety guidance for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though the health risks of going to a large gathering are high and despite hundreds of positive COVID-19 diagnoses reported in the county every day, the pandemic has not stopped Fresno residents from attending illicit parties.
The Fresno City Council will hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss issuing stricter penalties to party organizers who violate the local and state mandate.
The fines could be as large as $10,000 without previous warnings, assuming the council agrees on the emergency order, officials said on Thursday.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County reported seven new deaths from the virus on Thursday, which brings the total to 406. There were also 318 new COVID-19 patients reported, pushing the total to 33,433.
Merced County added 199 cases for a total of 19,444 since the pandemic began. Eight new deaths pushed that total to 260.
Kings County tallied 199 new cases but no new deaths, which totals 16,114 and 100, respectively.
Madera County reached 10,491 cases on Thursday after reporting 218 new patients. The number of deaths remained unchanged at 117.
Mariposa County reported eight new cases, which brings the total to 234 on Thursday. The county reported no changes to the four deaths recorded.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 4:20 PM.
