Fresno County health experts say don’t spread COVID at Super Bowl parties. Stay home
Yet another weekend for a potential super spreader event of COVID-19 has Fresno County health officials pleading with residents to not gather, and this time it’s Super Bowl LV.
The 55th annual game this year is seen as another risky time for families and friends to loiter and risk further spread of the deadly coronavirus similar to Christmas, Thanksgiving and Memorial Day.
All of those holidays were concerns for health officials and at least two of them were blamed for surges that kept intensive care unit beds full and doctors working long hours.
So once again, experts are asking people to stay home and watch the game without mixing households indoors, according to Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer.
“It’s really all up to us so think about that during this holiday weekend,” he said on Friday. “Think about the choices we make — and the choices that were made weeks and months ago — lead to the consequences that all of us, including our children, have to live with.”
Fresno County has seen 90,126 cases of the virus and 1,224 deaths since the pandemic began in March. Those numbers represent an increase on Friday of 378 cases, but no deaths, from the previous day.
Health guidelines say any gatherings should be held outdoors and kept to no longer than two hours while party-goers maintain social distance from the members of other households and wear masks. People who have health risks or who feel sick should not attend at all.
California hits 4 million doses given
California is about eight weeks into a mass vaccination campaign to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, administering tens of thousands of shots a day.
The California Department of Public Health on its vaccine tracker reported Friday that providers have administered 4,199,626 out of about 6.8 million doses that have been distributed to hospital systems and local health offices, a record-high daily increase of 214,874 doses given.
Friday became the first day to clear 200,000 shots added to the tally, though it’s unclear whether the total includes any backlog from previous days; California struggled with data reporting on doses administered, particularly in the first few weeks of the rollout. The state added about 192,000 shots from Wednesday to Thursday, the previous daily high.
The rollout to the central San Joaquin Valley has been slower than other regions, leading officials in Fresno and Merced to beg for more.
Other Valley counties
Tulare County reported 13 new fatal cases on Friday, which brings the total to 645 deaths since the pandemic began. Another 187 positive cases added Friday brought that total to 45,834.
Merced County tallied three new deaths and 116 new cases. That makes for totals of 362 and 27,134, respectively.
Madera County did not report any new deaths, leaving the total at 184. Fifty-one new cases pushed the total to 14,638.
Mariposa County has seen 374 cases and five deaths. There were no changes reported Friday.
Kings County has not reported for the day.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 3:53 PM.
