Fresno region COVID cases shrink to pre-Thanksgiving level. More pharmacies get vaccines
Fresno County and nearby counties across the central San Joaquin Valley reported a total of fewer than 360 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, driving the seven-day average of new daily cases down to its lowest point since before Thanksgiving.
The six-county region – Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties – has seen an average of fewer than 416 new confirmed cases each day over the past week. Just a month ago, the seven-day average was more than three times higher, at more than 1,300 per day.
The last time the seven-day average was this low was more than three months ago, at 421 cases per day on Nov. 12, before a major winter surge that health officials believe was driven by large gatherings of families and friends for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
The diminished numbers of cases comes as more options surface for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. On Wednesday, CVC announced that it is expanding the number of its retail pharmacies in California, including the Valley, that are offering the two-dose vaccine regimen. The expansion brings the number of CVS stores providing the shots to more than 160 across California.
The company is not specifying a list of locations to avoid individual stores from being overwhelmed. The vaccines are provided on an appointment-only basis, and customers can register for an appointment on the CVS website or the company’s CVS Pharmacy app, or by calling 800-746-7287.
Two other major pharmacy chains, Rite Aid and Walgreens, also have locations in the Valley that are receiving allocations of COVID-19 vaccine from the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. To make appointments or see if you are eligible to receive a shot from one of the pharmacy retailers, visit online:
CVS: www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine.
Rite Aid: www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier.
Walgreens: www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19.
The retail pharmacy programs are in addition to vaccine clinics being operated by individual county health departments or medical practices that are receiving allocations of doses from the counties.
Valley case updates
On Wednesday, the Fresno County Department of Public Health reported 157 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed through testing. That brings the total number of people who have contracted the virus at some time over the course of the past year to 94,741, whether those infected ever got sick or had symptoms or not.
Late afternoon Wednesday, Fresno County reported 11 additional fatalities attributed to the coronavirus. Since the first local cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in early March 2020, 1,412 Fresno County residents had succumbed to the disease.
Wednesday updates from neighboring Valley counties included:
Kings County: No update Wednesday because of computer system maintenance. As of Tuesday, the county was reporting a cumulative total to date of 21,916 cases, including 218 deaths.
Madera County: 23 new cases, 15,302 to date; eight additional deaths in the first update of fatalities in more than a week, 209 to date.
Mariposa County: One new case, 394 to date; no additional deaths, seven to date.
Merced County: 125 new cases, 28,874 to date; one additional death, 394 to date.
Tulare County: 50 new cases, 47,730 to date; eight additional deaths, 739 to date.
In just under a year since the first Valley cases of coronavirus, the region has seen almost 209,000 residents who have been infected. Of those, 2,979 people have died.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 4:58 PM.
