Fresno County passes 1,000 COVID deaths, but region falls below 1,000 hospitalizations
Fresno County reported 52 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total past 1,000, according to health officials.
The county totals 1,020 deaths and 83,591 cases following the update of 391 new cases on Thursday.
Fatalities lag behind other data indicators by a few weeks, with high death tolls continuing to reflect the recent peaks of hospital admissions that remain ongoing in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
Fresno County hospitals have admitted 589 COVID-19 patients, according to county health officials. There are seven open beds in intensive-care units.
Health officials reported Wednesday was the first day since Dec. 21 that the total number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Valley dropped below 1,000. There were 989 admitted, including 152 in ICUs.
Essentially all key metrics for COVID-19 spread are on the decline statewide with the exception of deaths.
The Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions continue to have 0% reported ICU availability, as they have for more than a month, though coronavirus patient totals have started to drop or plateau in some of the hardest-hit counties including Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Fresno, state data show.
Statewide, CDPH on Thursday reported 19,537 confirmed COVID-19 patients in hospital beds including 4,670 requiring intensive care.
Those are still exceptionally high totals — more than 25% of all licensed hospital beds in the state are occupied by coronavirus patients — but Wednesday marked the first day below 20,000 since Dec. 28. Both totals have trended downward for close to two weeks.
California vaccine rollout slow
While California’s coronavirus rates continue to show signs of improvement from a dire winter surge, health officials remain concerned by the state’s slow rollout of vaccine.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health last week began directing counties to start vaccinating members of the general public ages 65 and older, spurred by recommendations from the federal government and the Trump administration’s promise to release a reserve stockpile of vaccine doses.
That hit a snag when it turned out that that federal stockpile didn’t exist, as officials acknowledged late last week. Data on COVID-19 vaccine distribution released weekly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show all U.S. states and territories slated to receive exactly the same allocations of both Pfizer and Moderna doses next week as they did this week.
California Department of Public Health classifies the state’s 58 counties into six vaccination regions. Region five includes Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare, where 52,432 doses have been administered.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County reported 14 more deaths on Thursday, which brings the total to 529 since the pandemic began. There were also 355 new cases on Thursday, when the total reached 42,541.
Merced County tallied 218 new cases to bring the total to 24,788. There were four more deaths from COVID-19, which makes the total 320.
Kings County added a dozen new fatal cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 160. Another 115 new cases leaves the total at 19,703.
Madera County did not report any new deaths but added 107 new cases, according to county health officials. That totals 151 and 13,498, respectively.
Mariposa County did not report and changes to its four deaths and 346 cases.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 3:55 PM.
