Fresno County adds 598 COVID-19 cases on Monday after New Year’s weekend. Total nears 70K
Fresno County approached 70,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Monday after a long holiday weekend as vaccines make their way around the state.
With Monday’s 598 new positive tests, the county sits at 69,318 cases since the pandemic began. There have been 711 reported deaths from the virus though the number is unchanged since New Year’s Day.
There are 663 people hospitalized due to the virus in Fresno County, and just six staffed and open beds in intensive care units on Monday, health officials said.
The central San Joaquin Valley region remains under the regional stay-at-home order with 0% ICU availability at local hospitals. The Valley region includes Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
Health experts still expect that the next few weeks could see already-record levels of virus deaths and hospitalizations soar even higher due to the recent gatherings held over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The state on Monday surpassed 2.4 million lab-confirmed cases and added nearly 100 new COVID-19 deaths for 26,635 across the entire pandemic, according to the California Department of Public Health. In the past two weeks, California has added more than 500,000 cases and nearly 4,000 deaths, averages of about 38,000 infections and 283 fatalities per day. The latter mark is twice as high as the peak of the summer surge.
Vaccines can’t arrive fast enough for Gavin Newsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during Monday’s news conference that a little over 454,000 Californians have had their first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine administered.
Both vaccines are two-shot regimens that are taken a few weeks apart — three weeks for Pfizer’s, four for Moderna’s.
The governor said 1.3 million doses of vaccine have arrived in the state. That’s a discrepancy of a half-million from the federal government’s figure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says as of Monday that California has received 1.8 million doses.
Newsom said about 600,000 doses were en route but not yet in California. The CDC’s tracker showed a similar number for vaccines administered in the state — 451,000 — as the one given by Newsom.
“It’s gone too slowly,” he said Monday. “For many of us, all of us, I think, want to see 100% of what’s received immediately administered in people’s arms.”
Other Valley counties
Merced County added four deaths to its total, which is now 264, in the latest update since New Year’s Eve. Another 958 cases reported Monday bring the total to 20,402, according to health officials.
There are four open ICU beds in Merced County. Hospitals have 57 COVID-19 patients, 18 of which are in ICU beds.
Tulare County reported 959 new positive cases on the county that now totals 34,402. No new deaths changed the total of 406.
Kings County tallied 227 new cases but no new deaths, making the totals 16,855 and 110, respectively.
Madera County reached 11,128 cases after adding 637 on Monday. The 117 total deaths remained unchanged.
Mariposa County reported no changes to the 267 cases and four deaths.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 5:14 PM.
