Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties reach peak COVID-19 milestones not seen since January
Fresno County on Wednesday posted its highest single-day number of new coronavirus cases in almost seven months, posting 640 confirmed infections and pushing the total for the 18-month-old COVID-19 pandemic to more than 110,000.
The 640 new cases, reported jointly by the Fresno County Department of Public Health and the state health department, represents the most local cases reported for any one day since Jan. 20, as a fierce winter surge of COVID-19 cases was just beginning to wane.
Unlike that time, however, the number of cases in Fresno County and nearby Valley counties has been on a steady climb over the past two months.
Wednesday’s report brings this week’s total to 1,625 new cases with several days remaining in the week. So far in August, there have been 5,624 new cases reported in Fresno County – an increase of 5.4% in less than three weeks – and 110,263 since the first local infections were identified in early March 2020.
The rising case totals in Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley correspond to a growing number of people infected with the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The delta strain emerged in India last fall and has since spread around the world. It has also become the dominant variant associated with new COVID-19 cases in California and across the U.S.
As of last month, the California Department of Public Health reported that the delta variant was responsible for more than 90% of new infections in the state. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that almost 99% of new cases over the two-week period ending Aug. 14 were from the delta variant.
Elsewhere in the Valley
Neighboring Kings and Tulare counties also reached milestones in cases this week.
On Tuesday, Kings County’s case total pushed past 25,000 cases; an additional 53 new infections on Wednesday increased the total to 25,056. Less than three weeks into August, the 1,336 cases reported so far this month represents an increase of 5.6%.
In Tulare County, which updates its statistics each Wednesday, the county Health & Human Services Agency reported 612 new cases since Aug. 11 – enough to push the county to 52,002 cases to date. The addition of 1,724 cases since Aug. 1 is an increase of 3.4% over the past three weeks.
Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties each reported two additional fatalities Wednesday blamed on COVID-19 and its complications. The respiratory disease has claimed 1,755 lives to date in Fresno County, 855 in Tulare County and 258 in Kings County.
In Madera County, 41 new cases were reported Wednesday afternoon. and 724 since Aug. 1 – a 4.2% increase in three weeks, to 17,759 cases including 249 deaths.
Mariposa County did not post an update as of late Wednesday afternoon, while Merced County now posts its statistics only on Fridays.
After months with only a trickle of new cases on most days, Mariposa County has seen its case counts rise significantly as a percentage in recent weeks. Since Aug. 1, the mountain county has averaged more than 10 new cases each day, climbing from a total of 500 cases to 673 as of Tuesday – an increase of almost 35% in less than three weeks.
Mariposa County also reported one additional death on Tuesday, for a total of eight over the past 18 months.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties reach peak COVID-19 milestones not seen since January."
